Friday, September 23, 2016, Jeffrey Wechsler

Title M M M M M good.

JW is back and it seems almost as if he and Mark McClain collaborated on the last two offerings. Instead of removing a "T" like we did last week, we add an "M" to each phrase to create a new and entertaining entry. 1/3/5 have the M added at the end, with a complete change in spelling. 2/4 add the M before a final E. The Ms also change all five vowels, E, O, U, I(Y) and A. Using each and every vowel is a cool addition.  The rest is vintage JW with ARCADIA,  DAEMONS,  SPACIER, SINATRA, YOU HEAR ME, WORK FORCE, TOM SWIFTY,  I THINK NOT, FOREIGN MAIL, SCIENCE SHOW all fun longish fill. With so many spaces filled by the theme and the long fill, there are some 3/4 letter fillers but all in all a fun Friday.

20A. Seminal discovery by sports historians? : THE FIRST TEAM (12). The first tee.  This is an organization that uses golf to inspire the young. LINK.

27A. Comprehensive text on mints? : TIC TAC TOME (10). Tic tac toe. The Xs and Os GAME.
LINK before they found Kelly Harmon.

37A. Reaction to Bugs' continued evasiveness? : ELMER'S GLOOM (11). Elmer's Glue. Poor Elmer Fudd, poor COW. Which leads perfectly to...

48A. How a snail moves? : ON THE SLIME (10). On the sly. LINK.

56A. "I plotted against Caesar completely on my own!"? : CASSIUS' CLAIM (12). Cassius Clay. JW slips a little hint of Shakespeare within a Muhammad Ali reference

Across:

1. Out of practice : RUSTY. I like this clue/fill  but it actually took me a moment, which suggests that maybe I am....

6. Blue stone : LAPIS. I always think of Lapis Lazuli.

11. It doesn't last long : FAD.

14. Casual opening : INTRO. I was looking for a prefix for casual all too long.

15. Saudi neighbor : OMANI.

16. Part of un giorno : ORA. Italian for a day and an hour.

17. Crayfish habitat : BAYOU. A CSO to all of our Louisiana contingent.

18. Employees : WORK FORCE.

22. Newspaper supporters : ADS. A tricky way to clue a simple one- ads do pay for the newspaper to exist, but...

25. LAX stat : ETA.

26. "You got me there" : SO I DO. This is a bit of confusion for me, though it turns out ok.
So do I is simply "I agree", or "I feel exactly the same" (me too).

"So I do" can mean several similar things. It is a way of agreeing about something you did not realize, as in "well, how about that, what you say is true." (meaning "I do in fact do that, what you say). For example- "Joe Isuzu, you raise your eyebrow when you are lying." Joe responds, "So I do; I never realized that before."
.
It also is a way of agreeing with something fairly obvious, that you have known for some time. "Joe, you raise your eyebrow when you are lying." "So I do (yes, and you are just noticing that?)"

32. Card game : GIN. I have played many hours, including knock gin and all the rummy cousins.

33. Certain cross-country traveler : SKIER. Hey marti.

34. Crane's construction : NEST. Tricky, the bird not the heavy equipment.

36. "One Mic" rapper : NAS. I will NOT link this song.

41. Common ID : SSN.

43. Soaps actress Rylan : EMME. This diminutive actress appears on soaps mostly and changed her name legally from Marcy.

44. Some kissing sounds : MWAHS. Back at you. I am sure this was the work of the cell phone generation.

47. Snap : PIC.

51. Lend __ : AN EAR. Friends, Romans....

54. "That's so cute!" : AWW. Two weeks in a row. Did not help the Dolphins.

55. Brine-cured delicacy : LOX. When I was a kid, there was LOX (salty) and Nova, not salty.Now I know Why.                                                                                                                                                

61. "Doubtful" : I THINK NOT. A classic JW multi-word fill.

62. Be enamored of : FANCY. I can almost hear this in a British accent.

66. Relative of -ista : ERO. Spanish that has invaded US speak. LINK.

67. View from the Eiffel Tower : SEINE.

68. Traction aid : TREAD.

69. Cold and wet : RAW. The night was...

70. Fragrant compound : ESTER. Not Esther Lessner...oh the other ONE.

71. Quite a while : YEARS.

Down:

1. Kid : RIB. I was slow getting this and 1-across, sad; especially for a kidder like me.

2. A, in Acapulco : UNA.

3. Mess metaphor : STY. Rhymes with Sly.

4. Canter cousin : TROT. Many kinds of GAITS for horses. 49D. Bit of equestrian gear : HALTER.

5. "Am I clear?" : YOU HEAR ME? Another classic JW multi-word fill; words a child does not want to hear from a parent.

6. Dieter's choice : LOW FAT. There are high fat diets as well.

7. Milwaukee : mine :: Marseilles : __ : A MOI. Just French.

8. Last of three Catherines : PARR. 37.5% of Henry VIII wives.

9. Calligrapher's array : INKS.

10. Searches (through) : SIFTS. Even works for emails.

11. Philatelist's source : FOREIGN MAIL. It was always so exciting to get a letter from a foreign country, and look at the stamp.

12. Peloponnesian region : ARCADIA.  A reference to both old and new GREECE. Next to....

13. Nature spirits of Greek myth : DAEMONS. BZZZT! That is the Latin term for the GREEK. This  is like cluing JUPITER as a Greek god.

19. Plains tribe : OTO.

21. List substitute: Abbr. : ETC.

22. Cadillac model : ATS. A car- whoopee!

23. Hägar creator Browne : DIK. Gone 27 years, his son Chris now produces the strip.

24. TV's "Through the Wormhole," e.g. : SCIENCE SHOW. Available on Netflix. EXAMPLE.

28. Invoice heading no. : TEL.

29. Initiation : ONSET.

30. Ryan of "Sleepless in Seattle" : MEG. Another victim of plastic surgery.

31. Night sch. staple : ESL. It  helped Oo and I become a couple.

35. Bit of adverbial wordplay : TOM SWIFTY. "I need a pencil sharpener," said Tom bluntly.

38. Confessional music genre : EMO.

39. LBJ's successor : RMN. Tricky Dicky.

40. Real head-turner in the animal kingdom : OWL.

41. Deeper into la-la land : SPACIER.

42. "From Here to Eternity" Oscar winner : SINATRA.

45. Coverage-providing org. : HMO.

46. __ symbol : SEX. Brigitte Bardot, Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, Paul Newman...who are they now: Brangelina? Mr. and Mrs. Clooney? Link your favorites.

50. __ Beach, Hawaii, home of the 2005 Little League World Series champs : EWA. I can sense some serious grumbling about this fill unless you all know Hawaii much better than I do. It was filled before I got here, but this is obscure. How about, Adam and Ewa?

52. "__ suspected!" : AS I.

53. Salon procedure : RINSE. As a child when my grandmother would go to the beauty parlor for a rinse and set, I though 'how stupid' it was, since we had a perfectly serviceable sink and shower. I did not know about THIS.

57. Hawaiian strings : UKES. More Hawaii.

58. Agitated state : SNIT. I hope no reader got in a snit over any of the fill.

59. Pothole warning : CONE. Or barrels? ORANGE.

60. Farm female : MARE.

63. Org. assisting museums : NEA. I always get this wrong.

64. Amtrak unit : CAR. How simple.

65. QB's stat : YDS.

Well, fall has fallen, I get home after dark and another Jeffrey Wechsler is in the record books. It fit together nicely and  I had a good time unraveling the mysteries and picking the links.. You all have a great weekend. Lemonade out.

Friday, September 16, 2016, Mark McClain

Title: Has anybody seen my T?

Mark is back for his eighth LAT of the year and second this month. I have not had him on a Friday since August 2015. This time we have four starter words in phrases all containing the sound o͞ot derived from the letters "UTE" and Mark then removes the "T" and uses the resulting o͞o sound to select words which will combine with the rest of the phrase to make a new phrase clued wackily. Easier to see than explain. Two are the first word, two are the last word, the only outlier is MAGIC LUTE which maintains the spelling "ute"unlike the other three. We also have no hint or reveal, so you have to 'hear' the gimmick to find the theme. We do have some fresh fill like BLOW BY,  SAY BOO (BUTE?),  RED CAP,  DEUCES, DAYTONA, WHITNEY,  ORCHARD and TIDIEST. On with the show...

20A. Number on some beer bottles? : BREW STRENGTH (12). Brute strength. Craft beer tends to be very strong.

35A. Washateria wear? : LAUNDRY SHOE (11). Laundry chute. We have garbage chutes here.

42A. Musical work played where Brits go? : LOO CONCERTO (11). Lute concerto.

59A. Smokeless chimney duct? : THE MAGIC FLUE (12). The magic flute.

Across:

1. Shot in the dark : STAB. My favorite Shot In The Dark

5. Mild expletive : DANG.

9. Contraction used with "up" : WHAT'S. Doc.

14. Confining room : CELL.

15. River originating in Manchuria : AMUR. I wonder how many remember this river from the Wednesday the 7th puzzle.

16. Assails : HAS AT.

17. Woodstock performer before Joan : ARLO. I will not repeat my comments about this performance. Joan Baez was awesome.

18. Sci-fi guru : YODA. And  47A. Sci-fi craft : POD.

19. Rodeo maker : ISUZU. I still miss Joe.

23. Make even the slightest comment : SAY BOO. I do not want to hear a word, not even Boo!

24. Hall of Famer Musial : STAN. Stan the man; I was lucky enough to have watched him and Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle and so many more.

25. Some suits, briefly : VPS.

28. Egg foo __ : YUNG. Some HISTORY.

30. Depot worker : REDCAP. Train depot; bus depot?

32. Flight regulatory org. : FAA.

38. "__ turca: allegretto": Mozart rondo : ALLA. A second helping of Mozart.

40. "Is that __?" : A NO. Yes.

41. Floor option : TILE.

48. Exotic journey : SAFARI. Zambia.

49. Kennel calls : YIPS.

51. Terrestrial wiggler : EFT. The clue is open, but it is the juvenile stage of a newt.

52. Storm sound : CLAP. Of thunder.

55. Jefferson bills, slangily : DEUCES. LINK.

61. Courts in some hotels : ATRIA.

64. Bend for a swan, maybe : PLIE.

65. Woodworking tool : FILE. Last week I had rasp.

66. Contemporary of Beethoven : WEBER. This MAN.

67. Trouser parts : LEGS.

68. Chatted with online : IM-ED.

69. Quirky : WEIRD.

70. 2015 World Series-winning manager Ned : YOST. No relation to 1960's Tiger third baseman Eddie Yost.

71. Much of the MTV generation : XERS.

Down:

1. Natural skin protection : SCABS. Protection?

2. __ firma : TERRA.  The dry land on Earth. Latin.

3. Way in the back, often : ALLEY.

4. Pass easily : BLOW BY. Appropriate next to...

5. Prestigious NASCAR venue : DAYTONA.

6. Lima love : AMOR.

7. Many Renoirs : NUDES.

8. Foster __: sunglasses brand : GRANT.

9. Self-titled 1987 pop album : WHITNEY.

10. Diner concoction : HASH.

11. Phil Mickelson's alma mater: Abbr. : ASU. Arizona State University. Phil won a PGA tournament while still a student. The STORY. 25 years ago.

12. Toon devil : TAZ.

13. "The Simpsons" disco guy : STU.

21. Subject of an evil negotiation : SOUL.

22. "Dumb and Dumber" actress : GARR. No recollection of her in that movie.

25. Parental control device : V-CHIP.

26. Italian soccer great Rossi : PAOLO. This football STAR.

27. Dash datum : SPEED.

29. Tortilla chip topper, informally : GUACamole.

31. It's not observed in P.R. : DST. Daylight Savings Time.

32. Pseudo : FALSE.

33. "Half __ is ... " : A LOAF. Is better than a single croissant. Not to be confused with....

34. On high : ALOFT.

36. San Antonio-to-Dallas dir. : NNE.

37. Small craft : DORY. All you need to KNOW.

39. Picasso's here : ACA.

43. Picking site : ORCHARD.Not your nose.

44. Giza's river : NILE.

45. Like the maximum sum : TIDIEST. Odd clue/fill but we all have heard of having a tidy sum.

46. Multinational energy gp. : OPEC. Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

50. Less, when added? : SUFFIX. My favorite clue.

53. To an adequate degree : AMPLY.

54. __ diet : PALEO. A diet based on the types of foods presumed to have been eaten by early humans, consisting chiefly of meat, fish, vegetables, and fruit, and excluding dairy or grain products and processed food. wiki.

56. Versifier's weather : CLIME. This is used to rhyme with time and sublime in the psalms.

57. Calculus pioneer : EULER. Do you math wizzes find Euler fun? Here is a LINK that I found amusing.

58. Origins : SEEDS. Nice clue/fill.

59. Echelon : TIER.

60. Touring jobs : GIGS.

61. "What a darling baby!" : AWW. My girls, Harper will be one year old in 12 days...amazing.

62. Golfer's support : TEE.

63. Cred for bringing someone home : RBI. Cred tells you this is going to be an abbreviation.

Mark is one of the constructors who does stop by so let him know what you think. He made my mind jump all over the place and slid in a few really hard combinations, but  in the end it felt smooth, now if I could only think of a phrase that works with CUTE/COO. Loved the Mozart. Thanks all, Lemonade out.

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to our witty D-Otto (Tom)! Like Argyle, Tom never failed to give me quick and reliable feedback on an iffy crossword entry or clear up a confusing Podcast reference. I can't imagine where this blog would be without his and TTP's guidance a few years ago. Thanks for always being here, Tom!

 

Friday, September 9, 2016, Patti Varol

Title: Beer today, song tomorrow.

Almost exactly one year ago, I blogged a Friday effort from Patti, who as all the regulars know is Rich Norris' assistant. I did have the thrill again of getting an email from her when the puzzle that JW and I did together was accepted. Anyway, we have something different, a sound-alike where phrases are re-imagined as being related to beer. Since both of my sons and my nephew have all worked in the beer business this was right up my alley. We have some nice fill like SCHOLAR,  MONIKER, RESENTS,  H. G. WELLS, AL PACINO, and  EGG SALAD. Let's see where she leads us.

20A. Beer made in Johannesburg? : STOUT OF AFRICA (13). OUT OF AFRICA is a well received book and movie and used as a clue for Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen).

33A. One who aspires to be the king of beers? : PORTER PRINCE (12). Port-au-Prince is the capital of Haiti.

41A. Sounds from a brewery? : LAGER RHYTHMS (12). Logarithms brings back memories of college and slide rules.

57A. Toast said while hoisting presidential beer? : ALE TO THE CHIEF (13). HAIL TO THE CHIEF  is the official anthem of POTUS.

Across:

1. Crudités enhancers : DIPS. A vegetable tray for you French haters.

5. __ puppet : SOCK. Hand fits as well. Make your OWN.

9. Hot dogs and hams : MEATS. Tried to fool you with the other meaning.

14. With, on la carte : AVEC. Straight French.

15. Tartan wearers : CLAN. How better than with a single malt.

16. Lowest deck on a ship : ORLOP. I hit a rough patch here. This is just a word you need to remember.

17. Gadget that exercises the wrist : YOYO. I also never thought of a yoyo as a gadget.

18. Spydom name : HARI. Hello Mata, Hello Fata.

19. Crisp : NIPPY. New England evenings this time of year.

23. Lorry supply : PETROL. British trucks also run on gasoline.

24. Deck wood : TEAK. But not the orlop.

25. Chi. setting : CDT. Central Daylight Time.

28. Citrus suffix : ADE. Nothing like a shout out to get my attention. Thanks PV.

29. Letter before upsilon : TAU. Tau was derived from the Phoenician letter taw Phoenician taw.svg (𐤕). Letters that arose from tau include Roman T and Cyrillic Te (Т, т).

31. Ranking : SENIOR. Who is the senior office on duty?

36. Run out : FLEE. I was thinking using up something and having no more.

39. Larter of TV's "Heroes" : ALI. My thanks and apologies to Splynter and HG.

40. Tip for a dealer : TOKE.You ask WHY?

46. "Life of Pi" Oscar winner : ANG LEE.

47. Justice dept. heads : AGS. Attorney Generals.

48. Form 1040 fig. : AGI. Ajdjusted Gross Income.

51. Welker of the NFL : WES. The Dolphins had him, traded him and he became Tom Brady's favorite target. CAREER.

52. Highbrow : SNOB.

55. Oil once touted by Florence Henderson : WESSON.

60. Gourd fruit : MELON.

62. Happy __ : MEAL. Mickey D's.

63. Fluency : EASE.

64. Mesmerizing designs : OP ART.

65. Dark cloud : PALL.

66. They may not be quiet on the set : EGOS.

67. Fords a stream : WADES.

68. Gps. with copays : HMOS. Health Maintenance Organizations.

69. Paris' __ Neuf : PONT. The Pont Neuf (French pronunciation: ​[pɔ̃ nœf], "New Bridge") is the oldest standing bridge across the river Seine in Paris, France. Remind you of  Ponte Vecchio?


Down:

1. Place for pampering : DAY SPA.

2. Polling place sticker words : I VOTED.

3. Desert hallucinogen : PEYOTE. You can make a mess of MESCALINE.

4. Use a Brillo pad : SCOUR. Next to...

5. Learned one : SCHOLAR.

6. Evil count of "A Series of Unfortunate Events" : OLAF. Did you watch the Movie?

7. Stone measure : CARAT.

8. Word with bread and butter : KNIFE. My bread and butter response.

9. Sobriquet : MONIKER. So many names for names.

10. Los Angeles mayor Garcetti : ERIC. An impressive sounding MAN.

11. Actor with eight Oscar nominations (and one win) : AL PACINO.
Academy Awards
Year         Film            Category                 Result
1973 The Godfather   Best Supporting Actor Nominated
1974 Serpico           Best Leading Actor Nominated
1975 The Godfather Part II                         Nominated
1976 Dog Day Afternoon                                 Nominated
1980 ...And Justice for All                         Nominated
1991 Dick Tracy Best Supporting Actor Nominated
1993 Glengarry Glen Ross                         Nominated
                Scent of a Woman Best Leading Actor Won

12. Cover : TOP.

13. Many a character in "The Americans" : SPY. The story a a soviet couple in the US as spies for Russia. It  was created by Joe Weisberg, a former CIA officer.

21. Wizard revealer : TOTO. Cannot fool a dog.

22. Coarse file : RASP.

26. Put in : DOCK. Put in port.

27. One on a cartoon desert island : TREE. For those special emails so many get...

30. State with five national parks : UTAH. extra credit id you can name them.

32. Trifles : NITS. The lifeblood of many blogs.

33. Marmalade ingredient : PEEL. Emma, we miss you.

34. Nevada copper town : ELY.  Ely was founded as a stagecoach station along the Pony Express and Central Overland Route. Ely's mining boom came later than the other towns along US 50, with the discovery of copper in 1906. Wiki

35. Beatles girl with a "little white book" : RITA.

36. Weak spot : FLAW.

37. Hatcher's "Lois & Clark" role : LANE.

38. Sandwich spread : EGG SALAD. Spread?

42. Feels sore about : RESENTS.

43. Monopoly deed word : RENT.

44. Sinclair Lewis nominated him for the 1932 Nobel Prize in Literature : H. G. WELLS.

45. Tiny time meas. : M-SEC. Millisecond, 1/1000.

48. Italian cheese : ASIAGO. I like an asiago bagel now and then.

49. Takes the stage : GOES ON. Literally.

50. Overrun : INFEST.

53. Energy : OOMPH. Pah pah?

54. Players riding the pine : B-TEAM. A-team's spin off?

56. Docile sorts : SHEEP.

58. Mythology : LORE.

59. Circle overhead? : HALO. Love the simpleness of this clue.

60. Do the lawn : MOW.

61. AQI monitor : EPA. Air Quality Index : Environmental Protection Agency.

Well, we have done it again and I am mostly recovered from my bronchitis. I hope you all have been safe from the weather and are ready for fall (we have to wait another 2-3 months). Thanks Patti, Lemonade out. NFL is back!

Friday, August 19, 2016 Bruce Haight

Title: Another @##% circle puzzle to irritate Barry!

We take a journey with back to back Bruce Haight Fridays. My memories of going to the ocean and looking for stones to throw were brought back. This time he packaged his effort in a rare 14 x 16 grid with a total of 70 theme squares. The 14s are grid-spanners and with so many letters in themers, there is not much room for sparkle. We do get  AM FM RADIO and  SALMON ROE.  Once again I will begin with the very clever reveal which tells us we are looking for stones in the skipped parts of fill, in the circles.

58A. Leisurely lakeside activity, and a clue for the circled letters : SKIPPING STONES (14).

16A. Reason kept to oneself : ULTERIOR MOTIVE (14). Limestone  is a sedimentary rock that contains at least 50% calcium carbonate (CaCO3). Because sedimentary rocks are made of various types of sediments, the other 50% of a limestone rock could be virtually any other mineral. Limestone originates in wet areas which mean it could also be composed of shells and waste matter from organisms.

22A. Wig out : FLIP ONE'S LID (11). Fieldstone. This is a building construction material. Strictly speaking, it is stone collected from the surface of fields where it occurs naturally. Collections of fieldstones which have been removed from arable land or pasture to allow for more effective agriculture are called clearance cairns.Coming from New England we know all about this. What movie comes to mind?

29A. Thorny thicket : BRIAR PATCH (10).  Birthstone. Am I the only one who always thinks about UNCLE REMUS?

42A. Johnny Olson catchphrase : COME ON DOWN (10). Moonstone. This is an alternate birthstone for June, but also a gem used by

48A. Bum rap : FALSE CHARGE (11). Flagstone. These flat stones are popular for making paths etc. so here is how to DIY.

Across:

1. "Anaconda" rapper Nicki : MINAJ. I am not sure why but I knew this MUSIC (4:49).

6. Sizable chunk : SLAB. Of roast beef? Or Nicki?

10. "Yuck!" : EWW. Ok, I agree. So does 63A. "Yuck!" : BLEH.

13. Carne follower, in Mexican fare : ASADA. Grilled beef.

14. Roll at the airport : TAXI. On the Taxiway.

15. Former Vietnamese emperor Bao __ : DAI. This man. LINK.

19. Barack Obama, astrologically : LEO. He has the same birthday as my step-son.

20. Old Venetian magistrate : DOGE.  You should recall THIS.

21. Boy in the first family : ABEL. All the men had four letters.

25. Country singer Clark : TERRI. The only Clark I recall is ROY, not this tall Canadian.

28. Cold weather word : TEENS. Down here that would be freezing.

34. 1953 automobile innovation : AM FM RADIO. Introduced by a Mexican Company. HISTORY.

35. Catch something : AIL. Nice simple misdirection.

38. Put away : ATE.  Nice simple misdirection.

39. Some caviar : SALMON ROE. Traditionally, the term caviar refers only to roe from wild sturgeon in the Caspian and Black Sea (Beluga, Ossetra and Sevruga caviars). Depending on the country, caviar may also be used to describe the roe of other fish such as salmon, steelhead, trout, lumpfish, whitefish, carp,and other species of sturgeon.

43. West Indian sorcery : OBEAH. Hard to discuss this PRACTICE when we do not talk religion.

47. Young partner : ERNST. CPA firm.

53. Low-cost home loan org. : FNMA. Federal National Mortgage Association.

54. Lug : HAUL.

55. Letters left of center? : EPI. Cute...left of mean a prefix.

62. "If __ again I meet him beard to beard ... ": Shak. : EER. Rar lay I do not know well, Coriolanus.

64. Whiz : MAVEN. It's back.

65. Carefree syllable : TRA. La La.

66. Fun : JEST.

67. Sarcophagus holder : CRYPT.

Down:

1. Stake-driving hammer : MAUL.

2. Part of a chain : ISLE.

3. Defense acronym : NATO. He must like this oraganization. North American Treaty Organization.

4. Thirst quencher : ADE. Thanks for the CSO Mr. H.

5. Rattle : JAR.

6. Bend : STOOP. My thought

7. Slow passage : LARGO. Musical term.

8. Guitar players, slangily : AXMEN. More likely AXE (not maul)

9. Dust jacket info : BIOgraphy.

10. Safe to put away : EDIBLE. My favorite clue.

11. Encourage to score, as a base runner : WAVE IN. Maybe not these RUNNERS.

12. Brandishes : WIELDS.

17. First name in despotism : IDI. Amin.

18. Zap : TASE.

22. Set up : FRAME. Central plot to many tv shows.

23. NYC commuter line : LIRR. Long Island Railroad.

24. Ordinal ending : ETH. This is used to create ordinal numbers from cardinal numbers ending in -y, namely the multiples of ten (other than ten itself): 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90; e.g. twentieth, thirtieth.

25. TV sched. uncertainty : TBA. To Be Announced.

26. Aunt with a "Cope Book" : ERMA.

27. Divide : RIFT.

30. El __ : PASO.

31. Maroon 5 singer Levine : ADAM.

32. Counter square : TILE.

33. Lake of Lombardy : COMO. You like this little home?

35. Auto company founder Citroën : ANDRÉ. He was an interesting MAN.

36. Golf bag item : IRON.

37. Not the best of times : LOWS.

40. Universal donor's type, briefly : O NEG.

41. Uvula doc : ENT. Ear Nose and Throat.

42. "Evita" role : CHE. Guevera.

43. Counterbalance : OFFSET. Time for the offset I?

44. Loan officer, e.g. : BANKER.

45. Twain's New York resting place : ELMIRA. This was the cemetery where his wife's family were buried. Twain lived in Connecticut and Mark Twain house is in Hartford. A high school classmate has written about the restoration and is still an ambassador. LINK.

46. "Make it snappy!" : ASAP. As Soon As Possible.

49. Country about 12 times longer than its widest point : CHILE.

50. Underwear brand : HANES.

51. Zero : AUGHT.

52. Literary monogram : RLS. Robert Louis Stevenson.

55. Green attitude? : ENVY. From the green-eyed monster in Othello. Twain also wrote of this. “It turned Brer Merlin green with envy and spite, which was a great satisfaction to me.” — A Connecticut Yankee.

56. Sound often not allowed? : PEEP. I do not want to hear a peep out of you!

57. "It __ Right": 1956 Platters' hit : ISN'T.

59. Lunchbox staple, familiarly : PBJ.

60. Cinephile's TV choice : TMC.  TCM? Or maybe AMC? The Movie Channel is owned by Showtime.

61. Tool sometimes used for steering : OAR.

Well this was fun, but I lost my write up and had to redo it all. Some changed, some did not but now it is time to wish you all well and best to all the Olympic athletes who have provided lots of entertainment. Lemonade out.

Note from C.C.:

Let's say Hello to Melissa's granddaughter Jaelyn, who was born yesterday. She was 6 pounds 13 ounces,  20.25 inches long. Congratulations, grandma Melissa!

Friday, August 12, 2016, Bruce Haight

Title: Measured endings

Bruce is back and he tops JW's 4 grid spanners last week with 5, including the reveal. We see that the end of the 4 phrases are measures (each four letters) which wonderfully appear in order from INCH to MILE. With 75 squares accounted for, there was not much room for more, but we do get ENID O.K. (which was a bear to parse) AS IT IS and the lovely SWEAR WORD (how cools to sneak a swear word in the puzzle) and the entertaining  BAT SIGNAL. Bruce is becoming a regular here, so I hope you get on his wavelength. Let's look more closely... here

We will begin with the end...

57A. Finishes a task, and a hint to hidden words in this puzzle's four other longest answers : GOES THE DISTANCE (15).

17A. Strapped : FEELING THE PINCH (15). Maybe in ITALY?

23A. "Carefree Highway" singer : GORDON LIGHTFOOT (15). Listen.

37A. Island on which much of "Jaws" was filmed : MARTHA'S VINEYARD (15). I grew up not far from this ISLAND.

47A. Grin : BREAK INTO A SMILE (15). Maybe one like....or...





Well, take your pick, we must go to work to solve the rest....

Across:

1. Read the riot act : BASTE. This was a very hard place to start, as I had no idea of this definition and resisted the perps.

6. Like tightrope walkers : AGILE. Did you all watch the AGT where the man was struck by the flaming arrow?

11. D-backs, on scoreboards : ARIzona.

14. Physics Nobelist Schrödinger : ERWIN. He and Neils Bohr are very popular in crosswords. Here is a great discussion of his CAT.

15. Attendance count : NOSES.

16. Soft slip-on : MOC. Like ALUM last week a word that may have gone beyond being an abbreviation.

20. Baja bear : OSA. Spanish.

21. Two piece? : DUET. Nicely clued.

22. Paycheck abbr. : FICA. Federal Insurance Contributions Act - though contribution seems a bit out  of place.

28. Seasoned cookers : WOKS. Does the clue WOK for you?

29. Golfer McIlroy : RORY. Another 0 for major year...two in a row.

30. Eastern noodle : UDON. More Asian influence.

32. Clued in : AWARE.

34. What might make a ewe turn? : BAA. I LOVE, LOVE this clue.

41. Many a prof : PHD.

42. In base eight : OCTAL. Straight Latin.

43. First name in jazz : ETTA. James, not ELLA.

44. Con : ANTI.

45. Free ride : PASS.

54. "Do or do not. There is no try" speaker : YODA.

55. Hyatt competitor : OMNI. They have lots of golf courses including LA Costa in Carlsbad, California which I had the pleasure of playing many times. The caddies really helped.

56. Informal British address : GUV. Is this LINK accurate Steve? NC?

62. SEALs' org. : USN.

63. Baron Cohen's Kazakh journalist : BORAT. Ali G., Borat or Bruno? ALL you need to know.

64. "... bombs bursting __" : IN AIR.

65. High pts. : MTS.

66. Bends with the breeze : SWAYS.

67. __ pitch : SALES.

Down:

1. Obscure : BEFOG.

2. Playground comeback : ARE SO. Same number of letters as AM NOT.

3. Censor's target : SWEAR WORD. Simple.

4. Up to, in ads : TIL.

5. City SSW of Wichita, KS : ENID OK.

6. Source of opera financing : ANGEL. In the earlier years they were called patrons.

7. "The Teflon Don" : GOTTI. The late mob boss, died in prison in 2002 at 62.

8. "More or less" equivalent : ISH. Ir-ish? Swed-ish? Jew-ish?

9. Casual wear biggie : LEE. I never can tell Lee from Wrangler, now I know why. Major players in US jeans include jeans companies such as Levi Strauss & Co (which owns brands like Levi’s, Dockers, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co and Denizen) and VF Corp (which owns Wrangler, Lee and Rustler brands), apparel brands such as Gap, American Eagle, Zara and H&M, and private label brands by major retailers like Wal-Mart Stores and JC Penny. Jeans world.

10. Debatable power : ESP.

11. Test that examines fetal DNA, briefly : AMNIOcentesis. The needle is enough to convince me women are stronger. My wife went through this.

12. "Fidelio" jailer : ROCCO. Beethoven's only OPERA.

13. Phased-out Apple messaging software : I CHAT. I never had any Apple products until recently and by now they switched to messenger.

18. They have their orders : NUNS. These constructors are making a habit of punny clues for nuns.

19. Questionable : IFFY.

24. "Cut that out!" : DON'T.

25. Holy __ : GRAIL. How could I resist this LINK.

26. 38-Down source : HORN.  38D. 26-Down sound : HONK. This seems a bit lazy.

27. Back into a corner, in a way : TREE.

30. One with a stay-at-home job? : UMP. Nice clue; JW and I used UMP as our fan friendly 1 across.

31. Code word : DAH. Morse code; not created by Inspector Morse.

32. Sean of "Rudy" : ASTIN. And Samwise Gamgee.

33. Penn. neighbor : W.VA.

34. Device that debuted in Detective Comics in 1942 : BAT SIGNAL. The signal first appears in Detective Comics #60, for any collectors out there.

35. Knack : ART. This is a tough way to clue this three letter fill.

36. Org. concerned with securing crowns : ADA. American Dental Association.

39. Dramatic start : ACT I. A really nicely put together clue.

40. Respectful rural response : YES'M.

44. Small power sources : AAAS.

45. Discouraging words : PANS.

46. "Given the circumstances ... " : AS IT IS. Ans so it goes.

47. Quaint words of resolve : BY GUM. By golly has never been used, by gum.

48. Place to rule : ROOST.

49. Paradises : EDENS.

50. "No more procrastinating!" : TODAY.

51. Passes over : OMITS.

52. Florida's Port St. __ : LUCIE. This may be a challenge for those who do not live or visit SoFla., as it is a CITY of about 180,000 people not known for much except being perhaps the most devastated by the real estate collapse.

53. '50s-'60s civil rights activist : EVERS. Hard to talk about this MAN and not be political, but then maybe human rights are not political?

58. "Angie Tribeca" airer : TBS. I have never watched this series from Steve Carrell, but it looks...

59. Methodology word : HOW.

60. Period : ERA.

61. Santa __, California : ANA.

Is everyone adapting to Bruce's cluing? Of course since Rich edits....did any of you read the flap over at the Fiend about a NYT puzzle where after being criticized by the posters, a constructor called out Will Shortz for changing the fill and clues in that corner?  And I thought the NYT was supposed to be the staid civilized place. Ah well I love this Corner, and thanks again Bruce and all of you. Lemonade out. Go USA; Michael Phelps is amazing. This is his 5th Olympics!!!!!!

Friday, August 5, 2016, Jeffrey Wechsler

Title: Music please JzB, use your

JW returns quickly and gives us another CSO puzzle, this one for our own Ron and his talented trombone. The use of a single clue for all theme answers is not uncommon, but Jeffrey brings it home with 4 themers that are all grid-spanners! He injects some nice 8 letter fill in the corner with two stacked long ones crossing a single down fill.  APPRISED,  SHUT OUTS, PARISHES,  RING TOSS,  IN SPIRIT and CASSETTE are the 8s, with triple 6s intersecting double 6s in the other corners. A very nice grid with very few short fill.

17A. Slide : MICROSCOPE MOUNT (15). Obviously sussing the theme is not an issue, but how the fill was going to become four different types of slides was the fun. We begin in the lab.

30A. Slide : PLAYGROUND CHUTE (15). Next we go back to our childhood.

45A. Slide : RUNNER'S MANEUVER (15). Of course the slide in baseball is an integral part of the game, reminding me of Dizzy Dean who said of Phil Rizzuto in the 1938 world series, "He slud into third."

59A. Slide : TROMBONE SECTION (15). How about the entire orchestra.

Across:

1. Without markup : AT COST. The big lie in the car business.

7. Informed : APPRISED. A big word in the law, as judges are fully apprised of the premises.

15. Like the Godhead : TRIUNE. Definition: consisting of three in one (used especially with reference to the Trinity).

16. Where flocks assemble : PARISHES. Parishes are flocks, or they are part of a parish, but they assemble in churches, chapels...

19. "Defending Liberty Pursuing Justice" org. : ABA. American Bar Association.

20. Org. for Sharapova and Kournikova : WTA. Women's Tennis Association...a dupe for you purists? Tricky using two Russian Tennis Pros.

21. Base or case closer : MENT. A suffix clue.

22. Exaggerates, as a résumé : PADS.

24. Follow : ENSUE.

27. Ref. with quarterly online updates : OED. Oxford English Dictionary.

34. Respond to a failed delivery : RESEND. A Friday tortured clue.

35. Not your average joe? : LATTE. A really fun clue, especially if you know coffee is know as joe, as in a really good cup of joe. You ask WHY?

36. Video game hero with a kart : MARIO. I played and lost often when my boys were growing up.

39. "To wrap up ... " : IN SUMmation.

40. Epic including the Catalogue of Ships : ILIAD. The Catalogue of Ships (Ancient Greek: νεῶν κατάλογος, neōn katalogos) is an epic catalogue in Book 2 of Homer's Iliad (2.494-759), which lists the contingents of the Achaean army that sailed to Troy. WIKI.

41. Willing to take risks : DARING.

50. Shocked letters : OMG.

51. Colleague of Ruth and Sonia : ELENA. The three lady justices, again!

52. Trillionth: Pref. : PICO. Learn the history of the nomenclature. International System of Units

53. Kit Carson House site : TAOS.

                                                                          LINK.

56. Texter's "Keep the rest to yourself" : TMI. Too Much Information.

58. Moo __ pork : SHU. The dicitionary says the name comes from the Mandarin mùxū, the fragrant flowering shrub Osmanthus fragrans (because the scrambled eggs in the dish resemble the shrub's blossoms in shape and color. It is a Northern Chinese dish, how about this RECIPE C.C., Barry G.?

64. Way to be there when you can't be there : IN SPIRIT.

65. Looked for a school, perhaps : SEINED. What a break that this word appeared in yesterday's puzzle; of course with a Friday twist in the clue.

66. Tape container : CASSETTE.

67. Jousting mounts : STEEDS. Not...

Down:

1. Bank smartphone offering : ATM APP. I had no idea there was an APP to find ATMs....

2. Type of chief or custom : TRIBAL.

3. Noisy bug : CICADA.

4. "In __ Time": Hemingway story collection : OUR.  An interesting HISTORY for Papa.

5. White fall : SNOW.

6. Quality control personnel : TESTERS.

7. Mil. mail drop : APO. One of three special Postal Addresses Army/Air Post Office (APO), Fleet Post Office (FPO), Diplomatic Post Office (DPO).

8. Unchallenging reading material : PAP. Comes from bland soft or semiliquid food such as that suitable for babies or invalids. This led to "reading matter or entertainment that is worthless or lacking in substance."

9. Specialized undergrad track : PREMED.

10. Frosty film : RIME.

11. Will go ahead as planned : IS ON.

12. Walter Johnson's career-leading 110 : SHUTOUTS. More baseball.

13. Yet, poetically : EEN. I am also confused by this meaning. Yet higher - even higher? I guess.

14. Summer hrs. : DST. Daylight Savings Time.

18. Boat better not rocked : CANOE.

23. Many a recent refugee : SYRIAN. No politics.

25. "Arise, fair __, and kill the envious moon": Romeo : SUN. Shakespeare is back with JW with one of my favorite scenes...
"But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief,
That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she."

26. Sturm __ Drang : UND. And in German, It was a literary MOVEMENT.

28. Incredulous rebuke : ET TU. And you too, Brutus?

29. Believe : DEEM. Another favorite word in judicial orders.

31. Amethyst source : GEODE, The inspiration (maybe?) for geodesic dome made famous by Buckminster FULLER.

32. "I Fall to Pieces" singer : CLINE.

33. Inhibition : HANG UP.

36. Catalan surrealist : MIRO. When I was little my uncle had a Miro print in his office. I thought it was silly.

37. Fund-raising target, often : ALUM. Go for it nitpickers, I know you want to be told to look for an abbreviation, rather than an accepted expression.

38. Fair game : RING TOSS. An unfair game at the fair. "The Ring Toss: The rings are just a hair wider than the neck of the target bottle or spike, ...and are made of hard plastic to facilitate extra bouncing. If the carny shows it can be done, you should suspect he's using a larger ring than you're given or that he scores by dropping it from directly overhead, a move that, like the Basketball Shoot, is virtually impossible from the player's position." LINK.

41. Broadband letters : DSL.

42. Gallic soul : AME. It would be better if you saw ÂME. 62D. Août season : ETE. We are in August, and it is summer. See how much easier it is with the accent.

43. Agitated blog posts : RANTS.

44. Muddled : IN A MESS.

46. One often has a golf course : RESORT.

47. Clear Eyes rival : VISINE. Eye drops and a CSO to one of the ones who are gone.

48. Seconded : ECHOED.

49. Hospital routines : ROUNDS. An important function at the hospital where a doctor goes round and visits his in patients. Also, part of grand rounds when the doctor has other doctors and medical students along to learn.

54. Tour gear : AMPS. Rock and roll tour.

55. Drama prize : OBIE. Off Broadway.

57. TV co-star of Hargitay and Belzer : ICE T. Again.

59. Spasm : TIC.

60. Usually single-stranded molecule : RNA. RiboNucleic Acid as opposed to the double helix of DNA.

61. Trivial thing : NIT. I wonder how he picked that clue?

63. Draw : TIE. Correct me if I am wrong, Steve or NC, but I believe in Cricket a tie and a draw are different.

Well another JW Friday; the long fill really helped leading to a fairly quick Friday. Hope you all had as much fun as I did. lemonade out.

Friday, July 29, 2016, John R. Obrien

Title: Unlock the shift key!

Mr. O'Brien breaks away from his pattern of one LAT in March each year with his first venture into the world of Fridays. The theme is very cute, all the theme clues are the numbers that would show if the shift key were not held down. In other words, &$& is 747, which is a Jumbo Jet. If you are doing the puzzle on paper, this is a real bear, but with the keyboard, I found it pretty fast for a Friday, but i do get paid for sussing Friday themes. The word distribution is more early week with no long fill except the theme and many 6 letter fill:  AMORAL,  NOMADS,  NOVENA,  OMELET, VERONA, LAYMAN,  ANODES and IN A FOG   are my favorites. The 8/12/15/12/8 pattern does not feel familiar but did yield 55 theme squares. I am not suggesting the puzzle was easy, there are lots of very hard clues and slight obscurities, but we got her done.

17A. &$&: JUMBO JET (8). 747 is the real clue.Did you FLY?

24A. @! : GAMBLING GAME (12). 21 (also known as blackjack). Do you PLAY?

40A. !&&^ : BROADWAY MUSICAL (15). 1776 is the clue. Do you REMEMBER?

52A. ** : KEYS ON A PIANO (12). 88 Do you wonder WHY?

66A. What was mistakenly held for four puzzle clues : SHIFT KEY (8).

Across:

1. Bozeman sch. : MSU. Montana State University. I think this is a highly regarded COLLEGE.

4. __ on the knuckles : A RAP. Generally administered with a ruler, sometimes even the sharp edge.

8. Hardly homebodies : NOMADS.

14. Black __ : OPS.

15. Protection in a purse : MACE.

16. Folded fare : OMELET. Another gift from the French chefs. LINK.

19. Romeo's home : VERONA. Cool, a Friday Shakespeare clue/fill, or two.... 49A. Cordelia, to Regan : SISTER.

20. Great way to walk : ON AIR. Did anyone else go here....Extra credit for naming both parents of the star.

21. Olympics event : RACE. Timely but vague.

23. Baseball statistic : HIT.

28. Ancient time-telling device : CANDLE. Really fun INFO.

31. Hastings Ismay was selected as its first leader in 1952 : NATO. The name sounds like bad pig Latin, and I  never heard of HIM. he was interesting and NATO was an easy guess based on the year.

32. It can come between Clinton and Rodham : NEE. Hillary Rodham Clinton, née Hillary Diane Rodham.

33. Quaint retail word : OLDE.

36. Last words? : OBITS. Well done, even if a bit depressing.

44. Zaire, nowadays : CONGO. HISTORY. Not the Belgian Congo.

45. Sommelier's concern : YEAR. Wine was just too easy. Clecho-61D. Sommelier's prefix : OENO.

46. Outback native : EMU.

47. Mild cheese : EDAM. Yes, but not soft, it is is a semi-hard cheese that originated in the Netherlands. Edam ages and travels well, and does not spoil; it only hardens. These qualities (among others) made it the world's most popular cheese between the 14th and 18th centuries, both at sea and in remote colonies. (wiki).

57. Porter, for one : ALE. remember there are two basic types of Beer- ALE or LAGER. LINK.

58. Washington is prominent on them : ONES. Money, honey.

59. Property crime : ARSON. Burn baby, burn.

63. Like astronauts during liftoff : SEATED. HG, why?

68. Intact : ENTIRE.

69. Pamplona runner : TORO. The Bull, silly. he does not speak English in Pamplona.

70. Having four sharps : IN E. I defer to our musicians to explain.

71. Hoi polloi : MASSES. A Greek term, that became pejorative.

72. Like bachelor parties : STAG.

73. Bit of wit : MOT. French for word, part of the phrase "Bon mot."

Down:

1. Magic : MOJO. Defines as a magic charm, talisman, or spell. "someone must have their mojo working over at the record company" magic power.

2. Like web sites : SPUN. Cool deception, nit computer web but spider web.

3. Robert E. Lee's alma mater : USMA. United States Military Academy, Commonly referred to as West Point.

4. Unprincipled : AMORAL.  Nice explanation of the "A" as a negative prefix. LINK.

5. British rule in India : RAJ.

6. Biting : ACERB. Never seen in this form except in puzzles.

7. "She loves me" bit : PETAL.

8. Multi-day devotion : NOVENA. From the Latin for nine.

9. Kipling's "Follow Me __" : OME.

10. Nice view : MER. When a clue begins with Nice, it usually is hiding some French, like the owrd meaning sea.

11. It's heard coming and going : ALOHA.

12. Casual Friday material : DENIM.

13. Announce : STATE.

18. Texas city nickname : BIG D. Dallas.

22. Word on many a marquee : CINEMA.

25. Persian greeting : MEOW. Kitty cat not Iranian.

26. Classic muscle cars : GTOS.

27. Asian expanse : GOBI. The desert.

28. "Mad Money" network : CNBC. Jim Cramer.

29. Bubbly-textured Nestlé chocolate bar : AERO. Popular in England Steve? NC?

30. Light element : NEON.

34. Hardly an expert : LAYMAN.

35. Hall of Fame golf course architect Pete : DYE. Have you played ANY?

37. "Law &Order: SVU" actor : ICE T.

38. Unexciting : TAME.

39. Nasty campaign tactic : SLUR. Timely but verboten.

41. Quite a while : AGES.

42. Carroll's stammering self-caricature in "Alice in Wonderland" : DODO. A CSO to one of our own "Dodo: I say, you'll never get dry that way.
Alice: Get dry?
Dodo: Have to run with the others. First rule of a caucus race, you know.who has left us. "
More politics to avoid.

43. Celestial bear : URSA. Major, minor? Just Latin for bear.

48. Battery terminals : ANODES.

50. Befuddled : IN A FOG. been there often.

51. Put in folders, say : SORT.

52. Longtime "American Top 40" host : KASEM. Casey...did they ever bury him?

53. Justice Kagan : ELENA. One of the three.

54. "When You Are Old" poet : YEATS.
When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

55. Raid victims : PESTS.

56. Clapton's "__ the Sheriff" : I SHOT. But he did not shoot the deputy. The Bob Marley song...

MEANING

60. Dairy case option : SKIM. The nut milks are taking over.

62. Russian refusal : NYET. No.

64. Frank McCourt memoir : TIS.




65. Poetic preposition : ERE.

67. George's brother : IRA. The Gershwins, but you knew that.

I really enjoyed the creativity of the theme and all the Greek and Latin as well as some great cluing- Like web sites : SPUN  is my favorite. Welcome to Friday John; Lemonade out.