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

Jul 22, 2016

Friday, July 22, 2016, Jeffrey Wechsler

Title: Ah HA!

My Friday foil is back with an add a word edition that leaves us laughing. First, I had a blast working with Jeffrey in creating the Mel Brooks tribute puzzle. Mel certainly is one who can elicit much laugh-out-loud response. JW also has been concentrating on light-hearted themes, puns and and a good time had by all. I am getting very used to his style, his use of multiple word fill and his sense of humor. With 67 squares in the theme, and with three grid-spanners there are not many long sparkly fill, but he does squeeze in AVALANCHE,  WEB FOOTED,  THREE PUTT, and  BALD EAGLE.

17A. Convent seamstress' workshop items? : HABITS AND PIECES (15). I grew up near a convent and watched many nuns march on my street. They wore the full habit.
When my niece was three, and when she saw them walking, she asked who all the kings were.

24A. Enlightened kid? : BILLY BUDDHA (11). How cool is it that Monday's puzzle made this fill so much easier. This is my favorite theme fill--Billy Buddha...classic.

36A. Bichon Frise pack leaders? : THE FRENCH ALPHAS (15). A CSO to our now busy and hopefully rich marti who loves skiing the Alps.

48A. Sandwich in the desert? : SAHARAN WRAP (11). This seems the least inventive and most obvious pun, but perhaps the seed entry.
And the hint..(not a reveal)

57A. Request for relief, and a hint to the formation of this puzzle's four other longest answers :
I COULD USE A LAUGH (15). JW seems intent on making us laugh while we cry over some of the tougher clues.

Across:

1. It reportedly had an impact on beachgoers in 1975 : JAWS. But they forgot...

5. Pyle player : NABORS. The slackjaw picture link recently also made this easy. Raymond Burr's other half.

11. Seventh of 24 : ETA. I remembered that the greek alphabet had 24 letters.

14. Finished : OVER.

15. Got away from : EVADED.

16. Rented : LET. There were signs, room to let when I was child.

20. Viet Cong org. : NLFNational Liberation Front.


21. Zagros Mountains locale : ASIA. In Iran, a fact which I did not know, but the perps made it an easy guess.

22. Period in ads : NITE. A made-up word.

23. __ Paulo : SAO. Part of the 2016 Olympic controversy where Brazil will host 28 Olympic sports — including rugby sevens and golf, which were added by the International Olympic Committee in 2009. These sporting events will take place at 33 venues in the host city of Rio and at 5 venues in the cities of São Paulo (Brazil's largest city), Belo Horizonte, Salvador, Brasília (Brazil's capital), and Manaus. Wiki. Also, 60D. Braz. neighbor : URUguay. Uruguay is ranked first in Latin America in democracy, peace, lack of corruption, e-government,and is first in South America when it comes to press freedom, size of the middle class and prosperity. Wiki.

28. Rodeo loops, essentially : NOOSES. How macabre.

30. Cranial projections : EARS. So soon after C.C. and Tony's puzzle.

31. Deca- minus two : OCTA. This should be "minus duo."

32. Goya subject : MAJA. She is back with or without her clothes. And 26D. Gulf of California peninsula : BAJA.

33. Not yet on the sched. : TBATBAnnounced.

41. Resting place : BED. This was so obvious that it was hard.

42. Laudatory lines : ODES.

43. 1968 self-titled folk album : ARLO. I get him often, and I never tire of complaining about his performance at Woodstock.

44. Hindu sovereign : RANI. And,  4D. Indian honorific : SRI. There was much I did not know about this WORD.

45. Called : PHONED. Home?

52. Thom McAn spec : EEE.

54. Obstruct : CLOG. Another shoe clue?

55. Suffix for those who are flush : AIRE. Flush with money, honey, Billion....

56. To the point : PAT. Another Friday I do not completely get; maybe from the definition like in a pat answer..." having been already prepared and therefore said without thinking much about the question."Dictionary.

62. Alley end? : OOP. Hyphenated in the dictionary and the mini-theme of my write up.

63. Spanning : ACROSS. Sneaky crossword clue/fill.

64. WWII Normandy battle site : ST. LO.

65. "Life Is Good" rapper : NAS. A crossword regular.

66. Weakens : BLUNTS. Definition: 2. To make less effective; weaken: blunting the criticism with a smile. v.intr.

67. Historical Cheyenne rivals : UTES. Native American Tribes.

Down:

1. St. __ University : JOHNS. I know them from Big East basketball.

2. Dramatic influx, as of fan mail : AVALANCHE. A very convoluted clue.

3. Ducky? : WEBFOOTED. A very literal clue.

5. Mysterious monster, familiarly : NESSIE.  Do you Loch these monsters?

6. Fulfills a need : AVAILS.

7. Everyday : BANAL. Followed by...

8. Not everyday : ODD.

9. Commission recipient, often : REPresentative. Generally a sales rep.

10. Deterrent announced in 1983: Abbr. : SDIStrategic Defense Initiative.

11. Legendary Castilian hero : EL CID. I remembered the name from the Movie.

12. Effectiveness : TEETH. It is time they put some teeth into the helmet-to-helmet rule.

13. Bamboozled : AT SEA.

18. File extensions : TABS.

19. Loose __ : ENDS.

25. "Okey-doke" : YEAH.

27. River through Orsk : URAL. Twice this week.

29. Stumblebum : OAF.

31. Nev. option for pony players : OTB.  They shut down in New York, but are still out in the MECCA for gamblers.

32. Podium VIPs : MCS. Emcees, or Master of Ceremonies.

33. Green disappointment : THREE PUTT.  When Stenson three-putted the first green for bogey on Sunday, I thought that the pressure was going to get to him and Phil (who birdied) was going to get his second Claret Jug.

34. Image on cabbage? : BALD EAGLE. So many terms for MONEY.

35. Japan's largest active volcano : ASO. I really am not up on my knowledge of VOLCANOES.

37. Stormy ocean output : ROAR.

38. __ Valley: San Luis Obispo County wine region : EDNA. Nope, means nothing to me. CHAIRMAN?

39. Freudian denial : NEIN.

40. Legendary man-goat : PAN.

44. Old World Style sauce brand : RAGU. A cute old one.  LINK.

45. Vivaldi was ordained as one : PRIEST. Ordained kinda gives it away, but who knew? A puzzle with nuns and priests...How many of you recall that Vivaldi was known as "il Prete Rosso," or "the Red Priest?"  LINK.

46. Beset : HARASS.

47. Berliner's wheels, perhaps : OPEL. A German car.

48. Descendant : SCION. Also an automobile.

49. Heavy hitter in the light metals industry : ALCOA. Aluminum Company of America,

50. Court activity : HOOPS. Basketball...

51. Aired, as a sitcom : WAS ONEndeavour which is set in the 60's, was on Sunday nights.

53. Value system : ETHOS.

58. Black __ : LAB. My son's dog is half black lab, half boxer. He is a big sweetie.

59. CXXX quintupled : DCL.

61. Sun Devils' sch. : ASUArizona State University,

I can't believe it is all over so soon. Welcome home Jeffrey after your foray into other days of the week. Also welcome to summer all; it is quite steamy here is So. Fla. Come visit. Lemonade out.

Jul 15, 2016

Friday, July 15, 2016, Samuel A. Donaldson

Title: Gunther Toody, where are YOU.

This Samuel A. Donaldson, has been with us since 2009 .  It is time for his annual LAT Friday, with his last one being a sound alike as well. He is on a roll with 3 NYT and a WSJ all recently.  With a background in tax law, you know he has a great sense of humor and this offering, where we replace the o͞o  sound with the ē sound does require imagination. The theme jumped out at me with the Tina Fey and knowing the T from ARTTEST  was correct. I love getting into the mind of our constructors and picture how a phrase like TEA FOR TWO (Tē for To͞o ) becomes a perfect reveal for this puzzle. As I have said often, for sound puzzles, the reveal is the 13D, and I loved this one.

There are also is much sparkle to the fill such as ART TEST,  THIS ONE,  VENTNOR,  ENSLAVE, ECHELON,  DUST RAG,  SET DATE,  KNEE PAD,  LAERTES,  I KNEW IT, COUNTS ON and IMPLANTS.  Let go to work.

17A. What Fey does in a mushy moment? : TINA MELTS (9). I eat lots of tuna melts.

24A. Ornamental ducks? : GARDEN TEALS (11). Garden tools are more needed than the gnomes.

36A. Model high schoolers? : FINE TEENS (9). Fine tunes has many meanings.

51A. Park statue that might have the real things perched on it? : STEEL PIGEON (11). Stool pigeons are very important to the police.
And the reveal:

60A. "No, No, Nanette" song, and a homophonic hint to 17-, 24-, 36- and 51-Across : TEA FOR TWO (9).

Across:

1. Quads with wheels : ATVS. Four wheelers.

5. Perry of pop : KATY. So did I.
9. Two-iron, before golf club numbering : CLEEK. The whole SET.

14. Orator's prowess: Abbr. : RHEToric.

15. Der Spiegel article : EINE. And 65A. Der Spiegel rejection : NEIN.

16. Modicum : OUNCE. This was difficult for me as an ounce seems like more.

19. Forward : UNSHY. "I saw them come out and I saw that they were naked, unshy, beautiful, and full of grace, and I watched the naked women walk out of the sea.”― John Cheever, The Stories of John Cheever

20. Sandal feature : T-STRAP. Jimmy Choo.












21. Work the room : MINGLE.

23. Long time : EON.

28. Blanket in a belt : SNOW. Another hard one to decipher for me. Snow belt?

30. Beefcake subjects : HUNKS. Familiar?

31. One given at a wedding : VOW. One or two.

32. Polo of "The Fosters" : TERI. Don't know the Fosters, only the Fokkers.

33. Provençal possessive : SES. No grammar error this time.

34. 1974 #1 country hit for Dolly Parton : JOLENE.

39. __ Pie : ESKIMO.

42. Slowing, on scores: Abbr. : RIT. Ritardando (or rit.) is an indication to gradually decrease the tempo of the music (opposite of accelerando). Wiki.

43. Sacha Baron Cohen alter ego : ALI G. No politics here.

47. Home office, maybe : DEN. Do people have dens anymore?

48. Quite cold : POLAR. Vortex anyone?

50. Number on a clapperboard : TAKE. The name of this device used in filming movies etc.

55. Sylvan Tolkien creature : ENT. Talking trees.

56. Airport snags : DELAYS.

57. Dreaded : FEARED.

59. Hit lightly : TAP ON. The start of the two word fill.

63. Sudden jerk : START.

64. Way off the highway : EXIT.

66. Second chances : REDOS. Do over did not fit.

67. "__ arigato": Japanese "thank you very much" : DOMO. Did you all think of this song?

68. Where el sol rises : ESTE. The sun rises in the east in Mexico also.

Down:


1. "Draw me" challenge : ART TEST. Two words.













2. Selective words : THIS ONE.I really overthought this one. A second two word fill in the downs.

3. Avenue next to Monopoly's Water Works : VENTNOR. Anyone still playing Monopoly?

4. Headliner : STAR.

5. __ straight face : KEEP A. Two words.

6. Come down with a bug : AIL.

7. Big blowup cause : TNT. Cute cluing, not an argument.

8. Sycophants : YES MEN.  Again. Sychophant, literally "one who shows the fig,"

9. Has faith in : COUNTS ON. Again.

10. Sudden movement : LUNGE.

11. Subjugate : ENSLAVE.

12. Command level : ECHELON. "the upper echelons of the business world"

13. Exam marking aid : KEY. I remember working as a TA using these to grade multiple choice test papers.

18. GQ or SI : MAGazine.

22. HP product : INKJET.

25. South Korea's first president : RHEE. Or was it RYU? This MAN.

26. Cleaning aid : DUST RAG. Again.

27. Baltic Sea country: Abbr. : SWEden.

29. Airport connection : WIFI. Really tricky but simple once you see it.

33. Joe Cool, sans shades : SNOOPY. Hmm, this should be SNEEPY?

35. Exam for a would-be atty. : LSAT. Really an exam for a would be law student.

37. Surgical installations : IMPLANTS. I am not in favor of these but I could not resist a LINK.

38. The Emerald Isle : EIRE.

39. Text tweakers, briefly : EDS. Editors can be tweakers, but in the puzzle world they do much more. If you think a clue is bad, it may not be the original thought of the constructor.

40. Appointment : SET DATE. Again.

41. Patella protector : KNEE PAD. We wore them back in my wrestling days. 2 wds.

44. Ophelia's avenger : LAERTES. How cool, some Shakespeare. Also his father...
“I dare damnation: to this point I stand, / That both the worlds I give to negligence, / Let come what comes; only I’ll be revenged / Most thoroughly for my father.”

45. "Aha!" : I KNEW IT. I knee it?

46. Finish : GET DONE. Again.  Another thought came to mind. GET 'ER DONE.

49. Being handled by a broker : LISTED. Real estate broker; our closing business is doing very well as Florida real estate has recovered.

52. What Spanish Olympians go for : EL ORO. The gold.

53. Heading for : OFF TO. Off tee? Again.

54. Con beginning : NEO.

58. Former Education secretary Duncan : ARNE. No politics but a CONTROVERSIAL person.

59. Original D&D co. : TSR. Dungeons and Dragons

61. Outer: Pref. : EXO. The opposite of Endo.

62. Intent : AIM.

Well I know Sam aimed to please with this effort and I thought the theme was really tight with two "OO" and two "U" all transferring to well clued EE sounds. Some humor in the cluing/ fill. There was not much crosswordese, just real words and phrases. I had fun, and I hope you all did. Stop by and say hello Mr. D., as an active member of other blogs we would love to have your comments.

Lemonade out.

Jul 8, 2016

Friday, July 8, 2016, C.C. Burnikel

Title: Shhhh the Js are coming!!!

C. C. has returned to the Friday wars with a different type of theme where common phrases which have the second word begin with "SH" it is replaced with a "J" and clued accordingly. I know I often complain that the letter J is left out of so many puzzles so of course I did love this effort, but naming it is was too hard. I loved all the long fill, much of it new and some of it learning moments. For example, we have AUTO PEN, INK SPOT,  COSSETS,  EASY JOB, BRETHREN,  MISNOMER,  IN MOTION, U. N. SPEECH, RED AS A BEET,  BEER O'CLOCK,  BIONIC LEGS,  I SMELL A RAT. What a great mix of cultural stuff. Well, speaking of culture, let's solve the puzzle.

17A. Art-loving athlete? : CULTURE JOCK (11). Going to college in 1965 after four years away at all boys boarding school was a definite culture shock.

31A. What you don't know about audio equipment? : RADIO JACK (9). You don't know Jack unless you go to the Shack.

47A. Difficult situation at Bed Bath  & Beyond? : PILLOW JAM (9). I have pillow shams on my bed and I am not embarrassed by them.

61A. Gem of a night out? : EVENING JADE (11). Evening shade just sort of sits there...I did love the show with BURT.

Across:

1. Wrap alternatives : PITAS.

6. Ill-fated Corleone hoodlum Luca : BRASI. A real mobster? According to wiki, Luca Brasi is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather, as well as its 1972 film adaptation. In the film, he was portrayed by Lenny Montana, an ex-wrestler and ex-bodyguard for the Colombo crime family.

11. TD scorers : RBSRunning backs.

14. Response to a raise : I'M OUT. Or I fold, or just muck your cards. Sound familiar from Wednesday?

15. Element #86 : RADON. Perp time.

16. Fish whose blood is poisonous to humans : EEL. Of course C.C. would know eel blood is poisonous to humans and other mammals, but both cooking and the digestive process destroy the toxic protein. The toxin derived from eel blood serum was used by Charles Richet in his Nobel winning research which discovered anaphylaxis (by injecting it into dogs and observing the effect). Wiki.

19. "Agnus __" : DEI.

20. Home of the annual Norwegian Wood music festival : OSLO.  Wonderful excuse for


21. Heineken symbol : STAR. . C.C. used this before LINK.  Do you remember the puzzle where all the companies that use a Star in their logo?

22. Quick : SMART. That boy is as quick as a whip!

24. Sign on a door : PUSH. P U then the perps.

26. Texas county bordering New Mexico : EL PASO. Did not know it was a County. Read a Lawrence Block mini-mystery where he was trying to rhyme El Paso.

28. "__ Irish Rose" : ABIE'S. The modern version had a really fun cast. Turns out may have married Bernie, but she loves Batya.

34. Chinese checkers, e.g. : MISNOMER. Really fun word, and again we see C.C. playing with her heritage. It is a German variation of an American game that has nothing to do with checkers.

36. Firm : STABLE.

37. Fruit juice brand : POM. Oo buys this regularly.

38. Break up : END IT. Now done by text, I understand.

40. Goddess sister of Selene : EOS. A few years ago, I has this goddess of the dawn many times. LINK.

41. World Heritage Site org. : UNESCOUnited Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization...followed by, inexplicably...

44. Ban delivery : U. N. SPEECH.  BAN Ki-moon is secretary general of the UN. (From C.C.: Ban! This is Rich's clue.)

49. Foreigner in "Taxi" : LATKA. The late great Andy Kaufman.


50. Greensboro Grasshoppers' baseball level : CLASS A. Leave it to C.C. to craft a Friday baseball clue. (From C.C.:  Rich's clue as well. Along with many others.)

51. Surprised sounds : OHOS.

53. Appreciative sounds : CLAPS.

54. Wine holders : VATS.

56. "The Ghost of Frankenstein" role : YGOR. Or maybe IGOR?

60. "Away From __": Julie Christie movie : HER. This heart wrenching story of a woman who is institutionalized by her husband due to advanced Alzheimer's disease, is based on a short story by Alice Munro who was in a recent Friday puzzle.

64. Turkish bigwig : AGA.

65. Sculpted trunk : TORSO. The human variety.

66. Chocolate-caramel candies : ROLOS.




I loved the juxtaposition





67. It ends 11/6/2016 in the U.S. : DSTDaylight Savings Time. First Sunday in November.

68. Evil figure : SATAN.

69. "No good movie is too long and no bad movie is short enough" speaker : EBERT.

Down:

1. __ de gallo : PICO. No self-respecting South Floridian could get this wrong. Spanish for "rooster's beak," pico de gallo is a relish made of finely chopped ingredients like jicama, oranges, onions, bell peppers, jalapeño peppers and cucumbers, along with various seasonings. This condiment was so named because it was once purportedly eaten with the thumb and finger, an action that resembles a rooster's pecking beak. Food Network. Unlike salsa nothing is cooked.

2. Stern rival : IMUS.

3. Crossing cost : TOLL.

4. Signing facilitator : AUTOPEN. This 60 year old DEVICE.

5. Poker great Ungar : STU. Another sad STORY.

6. Members of a flock : BRETHREN.

7. Punjabi prince : RAJA. 23D. Woman whom Goya also painted clothed : MAJA. We have seen both versions here.

8. Flipped over : ADORED. Not a pancake, or mattress- a girl/boy?

9. A behavioral sci. : SOCiology.

10. Laundry challenge : INK SPOT. Use an alcohol based product, no longer hairspray.

11. Visibly embarrassed : RED AS A BEET. I love these two next to each other

12. Time for a cold one : BEER O'CLOCK. This is actually in the 2015 Oxford dictionary.

13. Skirt feature : SLIT.


18. Web feed document letters : RSS. RSS (Rich Site Summary; originally RDF Site Summary; often called Really Simple Syndication) uses a family of standard web feed formats to publish frequently updated information: blog entries, news headlines, audio, video. Wiki. Unknown to me.

25. Military support gp. : USO. Think Bob Hope.

27. Memory aids : LISTS.

28. Intensify : AMP UP. C.C. has clearly amp-ed up her game presenting more Friday and Saturday offerings.

29. Brain-controlled transportation devices : BIONIC LEGS. Two more exquisite fill.

30. "Something's fishy" : I SMELL A RAT. So cool.

32. Adversity, in the RAF motto : ARDUA. Per ardua ad astra. From adversity to the stars. Good to know some Latin. This was chosen in 1912 for the first royal flying corps.

33. "We R Who We R" singer : KESHA. I have only heard of her as Ke$ha. The song...


35. Catty remarks : MEOWS.

39. Actively operating : IN MOTION.

42. Hit, in a way : SLAP.

43. Mollycoddles : COSSETS. I only know this word from reading scads of British mysteries.

45. West Bank initials : PLO.

46. Not a hard nut to crack : EASY JOB. Seems like a random phrase and clue.

48. "Les Misérables" inspector : JAVERT. A great J word to finish.

52. EVINE Live competitor : HSNHome Shopping Network. QVC just would not work.

53. Libya neighbor : CHAD. Think we will ever learn African Geography?

55. Archaeologist's handle : ANSA. My son has been on numerous digs but I have no clue what this means

57. Severe blow : GALE. Refers to winds blowing.

58. Pure propane's lack : ODOR.

59. Come to a halt : REST.

62. Intl. broadcaster since 1942 : VOAVoice oAmerica.

63. Hurdle for srs. : GRE. So many tests...

What an odd ride for me, so much to love, so much to confuse...maybe C. C. will stop by; if not I gave my best shot....Lemonade out.


Jul 1, 2016

Friday, July 1, 2016, Jeff Chen

Title: Put one over on you.

Rabbit, Rabbit:  happy July all. It has been almost 4 years  LINK since I last blogged a puzzle by Jeff Chen one of the many very helpful and thoughtful constructors with whom I have corresponded. Like our own C.C., J.C. has mentored countless people.  I love the visual aspect of today's puzzle, but quite honestly the theme clues made the solving too easy. S placed on top of EIGN STATE would I hope have lead me to the fill (SOVEREIGN STATE) with the OVER implied by the placement. If I were a betting man, I would think Rich toned the gimmick down. In any event, a lovely challenge to locate 4 different fill which would result from a letter+ OVER+ part of a phrase. The resulting phrases are clued in a straight forward manner. With only 40 theme spaces, there is room for tons of sparkly fill like GATEWAY, AD SALES,  CHENIER, NOMINEE,  MIRAGES, CORRIDOR,  TELEPATH, EMOTIONS, AEROSTAR, INSIDE INFO, GRECO-ROMAN,  EYE OPENERS,  LEOPARDESS. Off to the solving races:

16A. With the circled letter over, self-ruled entity : [SOVER]EIGN STATE (9).

32A. With the circled letter over, humanitarian goal : [POVER]TY REDUCTION (11).

39A. With the circled letter over, undercover missions : [COVER]T OPERATIONS(11).

59A. With the circled letter over, concern of the Fed : [GOVER]NMENT DEBT(9)

Across:

1. Mimic : APE. Is this becoming an un-pc term, offending our simian cousins?

4. Dreidel stakes : GELT. Dreidel- Hanukah; Gelt- Yiddish for money. Not to be confused with 54D. Fix : GELD.

8. "The Avengers" co-star : RIGG. Now starring as a Dowager of the Tyrells. She was so enticing.


12. Droops : SAGS. No comment.

14. Two-dimensional figure : AREA. Nicely clued, length times width.

15. 2013 Literature Nobelist :

MUNRO. A nice tribute to our Canadian contingent ALICE.

18. "Breakfast at Tiffany's" co-star : EBSEN. Jed Clampett was a singer, dancer and actor. He grew up in Orlando and like Fred Astaire danced with his sister.



19. Website revenue source : AD SALES.

20. "Now wait just a sec ... " : BUT.

22. Some bling : ICE. Diamonds; okay Tin?

23. Where many kids squirm : PEW. Church can drag on for a youngster.

24. Passage : CORRIDOR. Not a part of a book,  This meaning comes the 16th century military concept of a passage by a trench.

26. One who really gets in your head? : TELEPATH. Wonderful clue/fill. TRUE?

30. Where a "cluck and grunt" might be ordered : DINER. Waitress speak for ham and eggs.

31. Response to an order : AYE. Maybe for a Cyclops?

35. Corp. bigwigs : CEOSChief Executive Officers.

37. "Double Fantasy" artist : ONO. Released three weeks before his murder.

38. "I got it" : ON ME. This round is on me.

44. Favorable, as a contract : FAT.

45. Some aides : PAGES. Congress and the knights of yore.

46. Actors change them often : EMOTIONS. Partners?

48. Old Ford minivan : AEROSTAR. Had not thought of this vehicle in a while. Out of production since 1997.

50. Product of Ptolemy : MAP.

51. Stop : END. Stop the madness.

52. Dude (up) : TOG. Not my favorite even if true. TOG: to dress especially in fine clothing —usually used with up or out

53. Illusions : MIRAGES. All mirages are illusions, but not all illusions are mirages.

57. Take care of : SEE TO. I like make it so better.

61. "Citizen Kane" poster name : ORSON. Welles.
62. Mercyhurst University city : ERIE. No idea, but a gimme for some. Mercyhurst University, formerly Mercyhurst College, is a Catholic liberal arts college in Erie, Pennsylvania in the United States. Wikipedia.

63. Draw guffaws from : SLAY. Hey Peg.

64. "Hey, you!" : PSST.

65. Nik Wallenda need : WIRE. His family was always getting high. Iget dizzy just watching.

66. Color : DYE.

Down:

1. On the briny : ASEA. Oceans are quite briny.

2. Took care of : PAID. Friday vague.

3. Silly Putty holders : EGGS. Invented during WWII as a possible rubber substitute.

4. 2007 Acer acquisition : GATEWAY. Computers.

5. Often-named stretches : ERAS. Stretches of time.

6. Service to be redone :  LET. Tennis anyone?

7. Workout portmanteau : TAEBO. Tae Bo is a portmanteau of tae kwon do and boxing.

8. Sticking point : RUB. "To sleep — perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub! For in that sleep of death what dreams may come. When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause. "

9. Skinny : INSIDE INFO. So many ways; book, 411, lowdown, poop, scoop, dope, tip.

10. Wrestling style : GRECO-ROMAN. Nothing below the waist...Greco-Roman (US) or Graeco-Roman (UK) wrestling is a style of wrestling that is practiced worldwide. It was contested at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and has been included in every edition of the summer Olympics held since 1908. Wiki.

11. Dead man walking : GONER.

13. Rowling teacher : SNAPE. The recently departed....both real and fantasy.

15. Like steres : METRIC. One cubic meter.

17. Drifted off : SLEPT.

21. Indic language : URDU.

24. French poet executed by Robespierre : CHENIER. Chénier might have been overlooked but for the well-meant, indignant officiousness of his father. Marie-Joseph did his best to prevent his brother's execution, but he could do nothing more. Maximilien Robespierre, who was himself in dangerous straits, remembered Chénier as the author of the venomous verses in the Journal de Paris and sentenced him to death. Chénier was one of the last people executed by Robespierre. Wiki. If you liked the French Revolution... LINK. (You might notice this name begins CHEN....).

25. Digging : INTO. In the Maynard G. Krebs sense.

26. Delicacy : TACT. Not a food but an action.

27. Revelations : EYE OPENERS. A nice infrequently used fill.

28. Female in the wild : LEOPARDESS. All perps but in retrospect what other animal could it be?

29. Home run __ : TROT. Baseball corner with 60D. Test for one on the DL, perhaps : MRI.

33. Bad end : DOOM.

34. Barclays Center hoopsters : NETS.  In Brooklyn
36. Lily variety : SEGO.

40. Lie atop : REST ON.

41. About : AS TO.

42. Runner in a race : NOMINEE. Political not physical.

43. Pencil maze instruction : START.

47. Pro and Mini : I-PADS.

48. "Sour grapes" coiner : AESOP. Interesting juxtaposition with the speaker of nattering nabobs.

49. 1973 resignee : AGNEW. Spiro beat Dick out the door.

53. Israel's Iron Lady : MEIR.  Golda. A true LEADER  and a key to the existence of the Israeli state.

55. Owner of StubHub : E-BAY. Bought in 2007.

56. Ophthalmologist's concern : STYE. Not really a cause for a specialist, just use the WARM TEABAG.

58. One of the small fry : TOT. Does this refer to a Tater Tot or just a young child? What a wonderful clue for a three letter word.

What a great way to start the month. Welcome back Jeff, I am not sure where you find time to construct, advise, do XWORDINFO, write and work. Awesome. Thanks to you and to all here as we enter the second half of 2016, Lemonade out.



Jun 24, 2016

Friday, June 24, 2016, Howard Barkin

Title: Ring around the rosie....

The most recent champion solver of the 2016 ACPT, Howard Barkin bring us his third LAT creation since his DEBUT.  This is another variation with a visual component added to the words in a puzzle. It is not uncommon to have  a single word be the clue for all of the theme answers, but Howard gives us a symbol. Working backwards from the fill, it is easy to see that the little circle is a RING, and each of the three themers are distinct and different types of ring. This all tied up with a nice neat bow with the reveal which by its nature limited Howard to three theme answers. Not sure why, but I clicked with this puzzle and had a really fast Friday time for me. (Not in his less than 4 minute Friday league)Howard has lots of very common words like ARENA, SEE, OLEO, EASE. ERE and ERA. But he also gives us  TROWEL,  LEERER, RAINING,  OARLOCK,  NEW COKE,  DOGLEGS, EASTER EGGS,  ANSWERED TO.  Okay, we had fun so let us see what is

Next....

20A. : CRIMINAL NETWORK (15). Ring has so many connotations, picking only three must have been difficult.

32A. O : BOXING VENUE (11). A reminder of the recent passing of Muhammed Ali, the Champ.

43A. O : WEDDING BAND (11). With this ring, I thee wed...
And the reveal

56A. Site of confused activity, and a hint to 20-, 32- and 43-Across : THREE RING CIRCUS (15).


Across:

1. "I Love Lucy" airer: CBS. Love an easy 1A on Friday.

4. Search, in a way: GROPE. In the darkness, not your neighbor at the movies.

9. "I Love Lucy" role: ETHEL. Plunked this is without hesitation, and I was off.

14. Caucasian native: HUN. We are not talking racially but GEOGRAPHICALLY.  I had no idea about any of this and filled in only because I did 1A, 1D, 2D and 3D to begin.

15. Havens: OASES. Very literal.

16. __ football: ARENA. This is the 29th season for the SPRING indoor football league.

17. Detergent in a red container: ERA.
18. Kind of curl: BICEP. Since I now use mostly dumbbells, this was easy.

19. More miffed: SORER.

23. Inca __: Peruvian soft drink: KOLA. My learning moment. LINK. Not to be confused with 45D. Widely criticized 1985 product introduction: NEW COKE.

24. Taxing people? : IRS. Funny?

25. Meet at the poker table: SEE. I will see your $10.00 and raise you $10.00.

26. Twitter follower, usually: FAN. Stalker, media person...

28. Horseshoe-shaped boat part: OARLOCK.

37. Garden pond fish: KOI. We have had this CARP before many times.

38. Crook's invention: ALIAS.

39. Meteor tail? : ITE. The word, not the phenomenon.

40. Ancient Greek physician: GALEN. Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus, often Anglicized as Galen and better known as Galen of Pergamon, was a prominent Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman empire. Wikipedia

42. Author Deighton: LEN. A spy novelist who gave us many books and movies with The Ipcress File one that comes to mind.

46. Angles for iron users: DOGLEGS. I love the fill, great for all of our golfers, but the clue seems awkward. Howard? Rich?

48. Course for newcomers: Abbr. : ESLEnglish as a Second Language. The course really helped Oo.

49. "... __ the set of sun": "Macbeth": ERE.  A return of Will to Friday.

50. Seven-film franchise: SAW. I have not seen any SAW.

52. Smooth over: EASE.

61. Stockpile: HOARD. I think my uncle was one, but not as bad as seen on TV.
62. Sportscast analysis: COLOR. Why are the called color commentator?  Your turn...

63. "Rumour __ It": 2011 Adele hit : HAS.
64. First sign: ONSET. Sadly mostly associated with dementia.

65. In need of change? : BROKE. Very cute, except when you go to buy gas in this town and all the panhandlers wait.

66. Spacewalk initials: EVA. ExtraVehicular Activity? HG, what did you think of Matt Damon and the Martian?

67. Brief copy? : REPROduction.

68. Spoke Abyssinian? : MEWED. I loved this clue/fill as my mind froze. We have done some work with an Abyssinian Church here.

69. "L.A. Law" actress: DEY.

Down:

1. It's always dated: CHECK. More fun cluing.

2. Grand Canyon animal: BURRO.

3. Spiral-shelled creature: SNAIL.

4. View from the Qilian Mountains: GOBI.

5. Coming down: RAINING.

6. Muppet in a can: OSCAR.

7. Strips off: PEELS.

8. "Outside the Lines" airer: ESPN.

9. Hidden DVD features: EASTER EGGS. Love this reference. An Easter egg is an intentional inside joke, hidden message, or feature in an interactive work such as a computer program, video game or DVD menu screen. The name is used to evoke the idea of a traditional Easter egg hunt. LINK.

10. Garden tool: TROWEL.  Maybe rhyming with VOWEL? Owen?

11. Sub: HERO.

12. U.S. dept. with a windmill on its seal: ENERgy.

13. Escapade: LARK.

21. Classic 20-Across : MAFIA.  No more omerta, maybe no more mafia.

22. Genesis name: ESAU.

27. Was supervised by: ANSWERED TO.

28. R.E.M.'s "The __ Love" : ONE I.

29. St. with a panhandle: OKLAhoma.

30. "Fargo" director: COEN.

31. Warmhearted: KIND.

32. Undisguised: BALD. I never saw this, and would not have gotten as clued? WT...

33. Toast topping: OLEO. Not anymore

34. Word seen under a deer silhouette: XING, Not a word...

35. YouTube clips, for short: VIDS.

36. RR schedule listing: ETD.

41. More capable: ABLER.

44. Hungarian wine region: EGER. Eger is mainly known for its castle, thermal baths, historic buildings (including the northernmost Turkish minaret) and, above all else, the best Hungarian red wines. When you plan your trip, it looks like a small town for which half a day is more than enough, but 3 days may not even be enough to enjoy it fully, even in the winter. Wikivoyage.
47. Rude sort: LEERER. Snore...

50. Bedroom noise: SNORE. Sorry. You should be...

51. Warmly lit: AGLOW. If only you

53. Yearned: ACHED. For her, with your

54. Polished: SUAVE. ways

55. SAT part that's judged: ESSAY.

56. Wielder of Mjölnir: THOR.

57. Perfect: HONE. People often hone their craft.

58. Grating sound: RASP. You can use a rasp to sharpen (hone) your tools.

59. SALT topic: ICBMInter Continental Ballistic Missile. Back to back days.

60. More than annoyed: IRED. A variation of IRE I have never seen anywhere but crossword puzzles.

I really enjoyed the creativity of the theme as well as the many witty clue/fill combos. There was some meh, but I had fun; thank HB and all of you. Lemonade back at ya.

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