Friday, November 16, 2018 James Sajdak

Title: Let’s get down with UP!

James is  back for his second Friday this year. He was more prolific back in 2011 when C.C. INTERVIEWED him . His roots are Wisconsin based but his presentation is eclectic with only a mini-theme of Oscar winning directors. The theme today should jump out to almost all, with the sweet reveal telling you UP is put at the end of the 4 themers. Swaddling, Said I do and Sheepskin are all nice long fill and words like Panacea and Veldt are cool. From there it is a fun, fairly easy Friday frolic. Lots of stuff from so many fields. Enjoy.

17A. Novice hiker's predicament?: TRAIL MIXUP (10). I am sure he had some gorp in his backpack.

23A. Relief pitcher?: DIAMOND BACKUP (13). This is a play on the name of the Arizona team - the Diamondbacks. 

38A. Flipped ... and what four puzzle answers are?: UPENDED (7).

50A. Showoff with gags?: HOTDOG STANDUP (13). My favorite, combining comedians with showing off.

62A. Tenement for one on the lam?: PERP WALKUP  (10). If you do know the term WALK UP Apartment, this could be tough.

Across:

1. "__ simple, duh!": IT'S SO. Well that is a challenge to start us off.

6. Gobi container: ASIA. Cute clue, as the Gobi is in fact in Asia (as am I).

10. Pollutants targeted in Great Lakes cleanups: PCBS. Why were they BANNED?

14. "Sorry, bro": NO WAY. José.

15. Brits' foul-weather gear: MACS. The Mackintosh or raincoat is a form of waterproof raincoat, first sold in 1824, made out of rubberised (notice the spelling) fabric. The Mackintosh is named after its Scottish inventor Charles Macintosh, although many writers added a letter k. The variant spelling of "Mackintosh" is now standard.

16. Devastated sea: ARAL. We have had this so often with illustrations, I feel like I have been there.

19. Taboo: NO NO. Nanette?

20. DUI fighting org.:  SADD. Students Against Destructive 
Decisions has become about much more than drunk driving. LINK.

21. Card game shout: UNO. I learned this game and Skip-Bo from my grandmother who always traveled with various decks of cards. She also loved cribbage.

22. Dairy prefix: LACTO. This clue has milked dry.

27. Spot for a springbok: VELDT. This is the open country, bearing grass, bushes, or shrubs, or thinly forested, characteristic of parts of southern Africa, home to these small antelopes.

29. Allay: EASE.

30. "Cats" source: ELIOT. T.S.


31. Stopped working: DIED. My 5 year old iPhone 5 just up and died causing me to upgrade to a phone I need to learn how to use.

33. Snarky retort: AS IF.

37. Cheshire can: TIN. A dual purpose CSO to Steve, Nice Cuppa etc., as well as our toastmaster.

41. Where Charlemagne reigned: Abbr.: HRE. Holy Roman Empire.

42. Extended account: SAGA.

44. Sources of some barrels: OAKS.They are the preferred wood source for aging whiskey. Today's LESSON.

45. Salty expanse: OCEAN.

47. Boone, to his buds: DAN'L. What you need to KNOW.

49. Put oil and vinegar on, say: DRESS. A salad; you would want it nekkid in public would ya?

56. Swashbuckling Flynn: ERROL. A tribute.

57. Employ: USE.

58. "¿Cómo __?": ESTA. Usted.

61. Digitize, in a way: SCAN.

65. Director Gus Van __: SANT. I hear much about this MAN but only know one movie.

66. Barb: GIBE.

67. "A Fish Called Wanda" Oscar winner: KLINE. When Jamie Lee was young and hot.

68. 3-Canada competitor: ESSO. James worked in Canada.

69. Erelong: ANON. One of my favorite words from Shakespeare. not our trolls. Though I do agree, not all anons are bad, though some should be...

70. Worked with osier: CANED.

Down:

1. Cornerback's coups, briefly: INTS. Interceptions in American football.

2. One-third of a WWII film: TORA. This is a movie which shall live in infamy.

3. Wrapping tightly: SWADDLING.

4. Got married: SAID I DO. And I am glad I did.

5. Olive __: OYL. As a small child I was overcome with the irony of Popeye and Bluto fighting for her affections, but like Shallow Hal, I am not into big feet.

6. Acid type: AMINO. The building blocks of life and the key to your health. RESEARCH.

7. Ivanhoe, e.g.: SAXON. I read this over the summer in high school.

8. Post-OR stop: ICU. First to recovery, then only if necessary to the Intensive Care Unit.

9. Nile biter: ASP. I think this is a nail biter pun.

10. Cure-all: PANACEA. Such a cool word.

11. Bunch of baloney: CROCK. Of...

12. Linguistic group that includes Zulu: BANTU. I love seeing this with 24D. Western tip of Alaska: ATTU.

13. Single-master: SLOOP.

18. Silent: MUM.

22. __ Palmas: Canary Islands city: LAS. Las Palmas is a capital of Gran Canaria, one of Spain's Canary Islands off northwestern Africa. A major cruise-ship port, the city is known for duty-free shopping and for its sandy beaches,

25. Closing documents: DEEDS. A repeat from Saturday and CSO to my work which these days is primarily real estate closings, drafting and reviewing deeds and title.

26. Expressed, as farewell: BADE. Fondly, I hope.

27. Checks out: VETS.

28. Oscar-winning director Kazan: ELIA. Two Oscar winning directors in one puzzle?

31. Gives a hand: DEALS. Not helping or clapping.

32. Press: INK.

34. Grad's award: SHEEPSKIN. Such nice letters in  9 letter fill.

35. Nest egg choices: IRAS. Individual Retirement Accounts.

36. Bogs: FENS.

39. Early Atari offering: PONG.

40. __-Frank: 2010 financial reform bill: DODD. This BILL also is a form of CSO as I was also doing loan closings in the 2000s and saw the absurdity of lending practices which were based solely on making money for lenders and mortgage brokers with values inflated by the need to keep selling. While I was growing up, CHRIS DODD's father, Tom, was one of the senators from Connecticut.

43. Enlarge, as a house: ADD ON TO. My father built an addition to our house in 1959 to expand the kitchen and buy a pool table. Good choice.

46. First name in Disney villains: CRUELLA.

48. Verizon subsidiary: AOL.

50. "Siddhartha" author: HESSE.

51. Black-and-white cetaceans: ORCAS.

52. Mission opening?: TRANS. Transmission next to...

53. Supercharger: TURBO.

54. Steamboat Springs alternative: ASPEN. More likely Keystone, or Winter Park.

55. Fresh: NEW.

59. Piece of music: TUNE.

60. Impersonated: APED.

62. Woods gp.: PGA. Tiger, who is half-Thai.

63. Strauss' "__ Heldenleben": EIN.

64. Pedigree-tracking org.: AKC. American Kennel Club.

Some pics from Thailand:
Oo's son- before

After
Another puzzle in the record books and my sweet Oo had another birthday in Thailan. I hope you enjoyed sharing today's do venture with me. Thank you James and all who responded these words. Lemonade out.

Friday, November 9, 2018, Bonnie L. Gentry and Victor Fleming

Title: Where did he hide my LEGO?

You have to go back more than 9 years to see the first puzzle by this team reviewed here at the CORNER. Then you have to travel 9,811 miles to watch me prepare this write-up from Thung Saliam, Sukhothai Province, Thailand. I am no world traveler like Steve, but we are here as Oo's son honors her by being ordained a monk for 7 days.
Back to the write-up; I remarked in their offering back in 2009 about coincidence in puzzles, and here we are again. Just after commented on Mark McClain's use of the black space in his Sunday effort, this team goes one better and has the black space represent the word BLOCK, which is of course is what a black space is. Wonderful.  And for the icing on the cake the symmetry of the break 9/5 to 5/9 3/11 to 11/3 extraordinary.
We also find ALL HOURS REHEATED AIR LEAK APPENDS ATONING EAT AWAY and PARIAHS as long fill to thrill

17A. Impediment: STUMBLING (9) (BLOCK) and 19A. Neighborhood gathering: (BLOCK) PARTY.(5).  Once a again, a grid -spanning set.

25A. Beach application: SUN (3) (BLOCK) and 28A. Billion-dollar pharmaceuticals: (BLOCK) BUSTER DRUGS.(11). This slowed me down as I did not know this PHRASE.

46A. One with a lot to learn, perhaps: NEW KID ON THE (11) and 49A. Obstruction: (BLOCK) AGE.(3).

61A. Local anesthesia effect: NERVE.(5) (BLOCK) and 62A . Device with pulleys: (BLOCK) AND TACKLE (9).
The reveal:

67A. Word aptly represented by four black squares in this puzzle: BLOCK.

Across:

1. Bad cut: GASH. A gruesone way to begin.

5. And: ALSO.

9. __ Ababa: ADDIS. This is a regular fill on Friday.

14. Natural skin soother: ALOE.

15. Good earth: LOAM. There is a Department of Agriculture official definition on recotd.

16. Datum in a forensic database: PRINT. Fingerprint. NCIS is not the same especially with Abby gone.

20. Outcasts: PARIAHS.

21. Boiling point?: KETTLE. My favorite cute clue because it is the lo action of the boling.

22. "No seats" sign: SRO. Standing Room Only.

23. Score after deuce: AD IN.  A tenns term appears after the Andre Agassi comments yesterday.

34. More than suspect: KNOW.

36. Early 20th-century touring cars: REOS. Ransom E. Olds liked naming things after himself.

37. Part of a joke: SETUP.

38. Lingering effect: ECHO. Another cute clue/fill.

39. Not as dotty: SANER. Does anyone use the term "dotty" anymore?

41. Colorado tributary: GILA.

42. Massey of old films: ILONA.  She was a star. LINK.

44. Thoroughbred's dad: SIRE.

45. "Git!": SCAT.

50. Pushed the doorbell: RANG.

51. Night school subj.: ESL. Oo going to learn English cemented our relationship.

53. Scandinavian bar exchange: SKOALS. L' Chaim, A votre sante! Slainte!

57. Corrode: EAT AWAY.

64. Words in some English resort town names: ON SEA.

65. Major fit: RAGE. Rageaholics are all too common.

66. First name in homespun humor: ERMA.

68. Watched carefully: EYED.

69. Exchange jabs: SPAR. Boxing or


Down:

1. [You can't mean that!]: GASP.

2. Wasatch Mountains resort: ALTA. This is the LINK. I am much more familiar with Park City.

3. __ grapes: SOUR. Aesop anyone?

4. Some Chrysler engines: HEMIS.

5. Around-the-clock: ALL HOURS.

6. Half a Daily Planet byline: LOIS. Lane of Superman fame.

7. __ Antonio: SAN.

8. Texting interjection: OMG.

9. Tacks on: APPENDS.

10. "Phooey!": DRAT.

11. __-cheap: DIRT.

12. Like some JFK flights: INTL. 15 hours and 32 minutes later we  landed in GUANGZHOU!   Guangzhou is a sprawling port city northwest of Hong Kong on the Pearl River. The city features avant-garde architecture such as Zaha Hadid’s Guangzhou Opera House (known as the “double pebble”); the carved box-shaped Guangdong Museum; and the iconic Canton TV Tower skyscraper, resembling a thin hourglass

13. Lid issue: STYE. This ailment appears also very often.

18. Verbal jab: BARB. See 69A.

21. Cassis apéritif: KIR. LINK.

23. Penitent: ATONING. Many ways to do this.

24. Mirage site: DESERT. Where it is -site, not what it is -sight.

25. Knitter's coil: SKEIN.

26. Family reunion attendee: UNCLE.

27. At all: NO HOW.

29. A pass may cover one: SEASON. Tickets for the Opera?

30. Brief rules?: REGS.

31. City in New York's Mohawk Valley: UTICA.

32. Stalin-era prison: GULAG. Not to be confued with the German Stalag.

33. Dramatic outpouring: SPATE.

35. Policy __: WONK. An unknown for me but in terms dictionary as a person who takes an excessive interest in political policy.

40. Readied, as leftovers: REHEATED.

43. Puncture consequence: AIR LEAK. I guess, but it sounds forced.

47. Court figures, for short: DAS.

48. Ensenada pronoun: ESTA. A Spanish word.

52. Velcro alternative: LACES. Pretty funny that laces are not the alterntive.

53. Nose-in-the-air sort: SNOB.

54. __ Ration: KEN-L.

55. Guesstimate phrase: OR SO.

56. With, on le menu: AVEC. Our French word of the day.

57. Do landscaping work: EDGE.

58. Dr. Johnny Fever's fictional station: WKRP. In Cincinnati...

59. Soprano Gluck: ALMA. Our only musical interlude and I cannot get YouTube to load. There is a beautiful video of Alma and her husband, violinist Efrem Zimbalist, singing to their child Efrem Zimbalist Jr., who would become famous in his own right  from TV shows 77 Sunset Strip and FBI and as the father of Stephanie who was Remington Steele.

60. Sommelier's concern: YEAR. The vintage of the wine.

62. "__ you out of your mind?": ARE.

63. "All opposed" reply: NAY. And the votes are in and i loved this puzzle.

I hope you enjoyed this tour of another creative puzzle. Welcome back Bonnie and Victor and Sawa dee ko from Thailand. Lemonade out.

Friday, November 2, 2018, Ed Sessa

Title: It's November, and that means time to fall back.

A wonderful and timely puzzle from Dr. Sessa, as a reminder to set your clocks back one hour this Sunday, November 4, 2018.  In another Friday 16 x 15 supersized puzzle,  each of the three themers describes a time an hour earlier than the common expression. Dr. Ed works in 2 four-letter bonus fill as well as two 16 space grid-spanners. He also references so many things that are fun for me, if not for everyone. Hey, I am happy. It is nice to have Dr. Sessa back with clues like Make the cut and Off the plate and some sparkly fill HARPOON, PH SCALE, SCISSOR, and SNOOPER.  Well enjoy- time to get to work.

18A. Commonly bristly covering: FOUR O'CLOCK SHADOW (16). Five O'clock Shadow has a great HISTORY.

29A. Christmas celebration: ELEVEN PM MASS (12). Midnight Mass is a little more of a stretch. 

36A. With 37-Across, an apt reminder: FALL (4).

37A. See 36-Across: BACK (4).

51A. Last-minute deadline: THE TENTH HOUR (12). The Eleventh Hour is a phrase meaning at the last moment, taken from a passage in the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard in the King James Bible, didja know? 

And the reveal-

61A. "Things are different now" ... and an apt hint to three other answers: TIMES HAVE CHANGED (16). They haven't yet, but they are about to. 

Across:

1. Service calls: AMENS. Another fun clue/fill- not tennis.

6. Emotionally bother: GET TO.

11. Sonic the Hedgehog maker: SEGA. SErvice GAmes of Japan has had a troubled HISTORY.

15. Miller's salesman: LOMAN. Arthur, not the beer maker. I think Lee J. Cobb was the best.
ACT I 

16. Audibly awed: AGASP. A word.

17. Dirt handful: CLOD. It is the earth equivalent of a clot; "lump of earth or clay," Old English clod- (in clodhamer "the fieldfare," a kind of thrush), from Proto-Germanic *kludda-, from PIE *gleu- (see clay). Also, the pejorative from 1590s; that of "blockhead, dolt, stupid fellow" is from c. 1600 (compare clodpate, clodpoll, etc. in the same sense). And no you know.

21. "Settle down!": COOL IT.

22. Watch name: OMEGA. Bond, James Bond.

23. Black shade: JET. The clecho- 60D. Black shade: ONYX.

26. Positive aspects: PROS. This list- pros/cons.

27. Make the cut?: SCISSOR. Scissor as a verb (why is that "c" there?) transitive verb: to cut, cut up, or cut off with scissors or shears.

32. Sock part: TOE.

33. Innate abilities: FLAIRS.

34. Ginsburg colleague: ALITO. Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader and Samuel.

39. Pile: HEAP.

43. Off the plate: EATEN. Literally true.

46. Mooch: SPONGE.

48. SHO sister channel: TMC. The Movie Channel, which costs money; not Turner Classic Movies.

54. Whaling weapon: HARPOON. Think Moby Dick.

56. Narrow inlets: RIAS.

57. Friend of Frodo: SAM. Samwise "Sam" Gamgee is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. Samwise is one of the main characters of The Lord of the Rings, in which he fills an archetypal role as the sidekick of the primary protagonist, Frodo Baggins.

58. Red flag: ALARM.

59. World Heritage Site org.: UNESCO. LINK.

67. Long-billed wader: IBIS. Oddly the mascot of the Miami Hurricanes. Down here we have many Egrets which look very much like them.



68. Like Stout's Wolfe: OBESE. Nero is back. My favorite character and sidekick- Archie Goodwin.

69. Former National Endowment for the Humanities chair Cheney: LYNNE. This WOMAN is the wife of former VP Dick Cheney.

70. Great balls of fire: SUNS. You must listen to one of my all-time favorites who came to play at the Great Southern Music Hall when I lived in Gainesville.

71. Herd butters: GOATS. A little head-butting humor.

72. Radiate: EXUDE.

Down:

1. 1980s TV ET: ALF. Alternate Life Form.

2. Call from Mrs. O'Leary's barn: MOO.
The cow that burned down thew town.

3. Dingo prey: EMU.

4. Cop making a traffic stop?: NARC.
Drug traffic- well-done
misdirection.



5. Nosy sort: SNOOPER. Love Gladys.

6. Mustang's rate of speed, at times: GALLOP. The horse, not the car.

7. Selfishness: EGOISM. Often is in conflict with...

8. Delicacy: TACT. Which causes people to express...

9. Sound of disapproval: TSK. Seldom just one.

10. Special __: OPS.

11. Ponzi schemes, e.g.: SCAMS.

12. Firstborn: ELDEST. And some famous ones. 40D. Genesis grandson: ENOS. Talk about literary license; Enos, son of Seth, grandson of Adam,  was ninety when he begat Cainan, his eldest. After Cainan, Enos had other sons and daughters and lived for another eight hundred and fifteen years. The Bible Timeline charts his birth at 3769 BC and death at 2864 BC.

13. Like lovestruck eyes: GOO GOO. I am told the phrase has something to do with the old comics (1919) character Barney Google, who had protruding eyes (I know, hardly a flattering version) called Googley eyes.

14. Pop-up source: ADWARE.

19. Reasons to take painful steps?: CORNS. What exactly are corns on the foot? Corns generally occur at pressure points, typically the bottom of the feet and the sides of toes. They can be painful. A hard corn is a small patch of thickened, dead skin with a central core. A soft corn has a much thinner surface and usually occurs between the 4th and 5th toes. WebMD.

20. Verb in the song "Sloop John B": HOIST. The chorus...
So hoist up the John B's sail
See how the mainsail sets
Call for the Captain ashore
Let me go home, let me go home
I want to go home, yeah yeah
Well I feel so broke up
I want to go home

23. Mutt's companion: JEFF. More old-time comic characters. 1907.

24. "First Lady of Song": ELLA. Hard to believe she has been gone more than 20 years. LINK.

25. Colorful duck: TEAL. Yes, but they taste terrible.

27. Polio vaccine pioneer: SALK. I have told my polio vaccine story too often, but it was a special time for my brothers and me.

28. TV forensic series: CSI. Crime Scene Investigation.

30. Nasty: VILE.

31. Cheese go-with: MAC.

35. "Trouble ahead!": OH OH.

37. "It's __ fun": BEEN.

38. Farm crawler: ANT.

41. Water en un lago: AGUA. Water in the Spanish lake.

42. Salon offering: PERManent. Those with straight hair want curls; those with curls want straight.

44. Scintillas: ATOMS.

45. Short still?: THO. Yet or again, short tells you it is not a full word.

46. Squirrel away: STASH.

47. Range on which 7 denotes neutrality: PH SCALE. Acidic and basic are two extremes that describe a chemical property chemical. Mixing acids and bases can cancel out or neutralize their extreme effects. A substance that is neither acidic nor basic is neutral. The pH scale measures how acidic or basic a substance is. The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14. Elmhurst Colleg.

48. Strictly speaking: THAT IS.

49. "Two and a Half Men" beach setting: MALIBU.

50. Pack without an inch to spare: CRAM IN.

52. First name of a literary "Papa": ERNEST.

53. Family reunion attendees: NIECES. The 29th was my first grandchild, Charlotte's birthday, and the day my newest grand-niece (by way of Oo) was born.

55. Persist, with "on": PRESS.

59. Pigmented eye area: UVEA. Did you know uveal pigment
Melanin in the choroid layer of the eye, the ciliary processes, and the posterior surface of the iris. Uveal pigment absorbs light within the eyeball to prevent glare.

62. "Sooey!" responder: HOG.

63. Blood classification letters: ABO. The HISTORY.

64. Beast that rhymes with zoo: GNU. Who knew?

65. Word with living or dead: END. The living dead are not the living end.

66. When doubled, a Ramone: DEE. Dee Dee and Joey Ramone TALK.


Golly gee, we have reached November and the end of another write-up of a Dr. Ed Sessa puzzle. I hope you had as much fun as I did. Lemonade out.

Friday October 26, 2018, Joe Kidd

Title: There may be no I in "team", but the I must be added!

After being confronted with a 4 letter addition last week, we only have one little letter and some very amusing clue/fill combinations. This is my first exposure to Joe Kidd, perhaps a Nom de Plume of a shy constructor who likes Clint Eastwood. It is also his 6th LAT to go with a single NYT, for which no picture was run. He sticks in some nice fill like  HOGTIED, I MADE IT, NATALIE and TURN OFF but shines with two that are new to the Corner since the change to the LAT - CREATE A STIR and INCOME TAXES. I do not think I have had a puzzle with 5 eleven space theme fill before. Overall, it seemed easy, with many toeholds, but YMMV.

17A. Cheeky server?: FRESH WAITER (11). The base phrase - FRESH WATER -  I like the cheeky server.

26A. Bro on the go?: MOBILE HOMIE (11).  The base phrase - MOBILE HOME - I love mobile homie!

37A. European auto left out in the rain?: SATURATED FIAT (13). The base phrase - SATURATED FAT -Cute.

49A. Food for thought? : BRAIN MUFFIN (11). The base phrase - BRAN MUFFIN - A RECIPE. Or THIS.

58A. Result of a yank prank?: WEDGIE ISSUE (11). The base phrase - WEDGE ISSUE - a divisive political issue, especially one that is raised by a candidate for public office in hopes of attracting or alienating an opponent's supporters. I have seen nothing but attack ads, with no attempt to put forth a platform. If you have never had your underwear tugged, this would be obscure.

Across:

1. Decision-making tool: COIN. I flip you for it.

5. Slips in pots: CHITS. A chit is a tab or an IOU, a record of money owed. Your neighborhood deli might give you a chit the end of each week, letting you know how much you owe for your daily bagels.

10. Assure, as victory: ICE.

13. One of four on a keyboard: ARROW. Just to the right of the letters.

15. Comics unit: PANEL.

16. Nice handle?: NOM. The French city misdirection.

19. Call from a cote: COO.  I think they mean the birdhouses built for doves (pigeons) but I would prefer this cooing.

20. Former Rocket Ming: YAO. My Oo is actually named Thongyao.

21. Hanoi holiday: TET. More Asian information.

22. "NBC Nightly News" anchor Lester: HOLT.

23. Sgt.'s underling: PFC.

29. Alienate: TURN OFF. Extreme.

31. Creator of many word lists: ROGET. Mr. Thesauras.

32. Sailing: ASEA.

33. Stately shaders: ELMS. "The stately Elm spreads its arms, rejoicing in its strength."

36. '40s Giant manager: OTT. Melvin Thomas Ott, nicknamed "Master Melvin", was an American professional baseball player who played in Major League Baseball as a right fielder for the New York Giants, from 1926 through 1947. He was a very successful PLAYER as well.  His puzzle counterpart is 2D. Nine-time NHL All-Star: ORR.

41. Draw at a pub: TAP. Beer is back on Friday.

42. Weight adjustment factor: TARE. Tare weight is accounted for in kitchen, analytical (scientific), and other weighing scales which include a button that resets the zero of the scale display when an empty container is placed on the weighing platform, in order to subsequently display only the weight of the contents of the container. Dict.

43. One no longer serving: EX-GI.

45. Prove to be untrue: BELIE.

47. Late arriver's cry: I MADE IT.

52. Airport near OAK: SFO. Oakland and San Francisco are easy MSY is hard.

53. Outwit, as a tail: LOSE.

54. Taker of ppm measurements: EPA. Parts Per Million. Environmental Protection Agency.

55. Dorm room, perhaps: STY. I am so tired of this FEBREZE commercial.

57. Bad picnic omen: ANT. That seems harsh; you go sit where they live.

63. B.S. part: Abbr.: SCIence.

64. Oven setting: BROIL. I wondered why when you wanted to roast the turkey you set the oven to broil.

65. Put an end to: CEASE. And desist.

66. Rocky outcropping: TOR. A word I learned from puzzles, which is also known by geomorphologists as either a castle koppie or kopje, is a large, free-standing rock outcrop that rises abruptly from the surrounding smooth and gentle slopes of a rounded hill summit or ridge crest. Wiki.

67. AAA and NRA: ASSNS.

68. Bar shelf lineup: RYES. I have never seen an array of rye whiskey in any bar.


Down:

1. Half-__: coffee choice: CAF. Half-assed?

3. Aran Islands country: Abbr.: IREland. The Aran Islands are located just off Galway and Doolin. A true Irish experience awaits, locals, speak Irish as well as English in a setting of Celtic churches of historical significance including World Heritage site Dun Aonghasa which is set on a dramatic 300 ft cliff edge.

4. Prone to prying: NOSY.

5. Many an IRS e-file user: CPA.

6. 1492 landing site, now: HAITI. The HISTORY of this island called AYTI by the natives is more complex than most know.

7. Gathering of spies: INTEL. Not where but what.

8. Show instability: TEETER. Totter.

9. Hasselblad product: SLR. Single Lens Reflex.

10. 5-Down's concern: INCOME TAXES.

11. "Chillax!": COOL IT.

12. Act to excess: EMOTE. I have never liked this clue/fill.

14. Hula Hoop manufacturer: WHAMO.

18. Sound system component: WOOFER. Tweeter before the twits took control.

22. Rendered immobile: HOGTIED. The hogtie when used on pigs and cattle has it where three of the four limbs are tied together, as tying all four together is difficult and can result in harm to the animal. More rodeo, see 45D.

23. Student advocacy gp.: PTA.

24. Ruckus: FUSS. Next to

25. Shake things up: CREATE A STIR. Quite a nice phrase, though all I can find online is Cause a Stir.

27. Key of Beethoven's Second Piano Concerto: B-FLAT.

28. Horseshoe holder: HOOF. I nailed this answer.

30. Merchant of 10,000 Maniacs: NATALIE. And much more. LINK.

34. Kingston Trio hit with the lyric "Fight the fare increase!": MTA. Poor Charlie.

35. Letter enhancement: SERIF. Serifs are semi-structural details or small decorative flourishes on the ends of some of the strokes that make up letters and symbols. An example would be the Times New Roman font. Sans serif does not have these details or flourishes. An example would be the Arial font.

38. Go __ smoke: UP IN.

39. End that may be untimely: DEMISE. An odd clecho with...

40. End-of-week exclamation: TGIF.

44. Midori on the ice: ITO.

45. Bouncy ride, to say the least: BRONCO. It is kind of fun when the horse wins.

46. Arab bigwigs: EMEERS.

48. Bit of tomfoolery: ANTIC. If you give in to your wild side, you will often have a ...

49. Rollicking good time: BLAST.

50. Prom night coifs: UPDOS.

51. Dickens bad guy: FAGIN.  This fictional character is one of the villains in Charles Dickens’s novel Oliver Twist (1837–39) and one of the most notorious anti-Semitic portraits in English literature.

56. River in western Belgium: YSER. Made famous in World War I. LINK.

58. Org. for pugilists: WBA. The World Boxing Association is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction world championship boxing bouts, alongside the IBF, WBC, and WBO. wiki.

59. They, in Tours: ILS. Just some more French.

60. "Suppose ... ": SAY.  These three letter fill are not simple/

61. Play for a fool: USE.

Joe Kidd was back and no Kidding around. Like I said, I went pretty fast for a Friday but had a good time. Maybe Mr. Kidd will overcome his shyness and come to the Corner to say hi. If not, we will soldier on. Thank you all and until next time- Lemonade out.

Friday, October 19, 2018 Craig Stowe

Title: STER the pot.

How funny, here I am writing up a Craig Stowe puzzle so soon after his Saturday. This is Craig's 20th  LAT publication, but his 11th in 2018!!!! Like I said, he has turned it on. I blogged the PUZZLE which was his debut in December 2015. Today, as befitting a Friday, features the impressive add, not 1 letter, not 2 letters, not 3 letters, but the 4 letters -STER- to common two word-phrases. We have seen this before from our Friday stalwart JW, but once again it is an impressive creation. And the inclusion of  À LA MODE,  COMPETE,  DATA SET,  ENOUNCE,  PARADOX,  RHOMBUS, CHEAP SHOT,  DERELICTS,  HORSEHIDE and  I'M ON A DIET shows the skill Craig has developed in less than 5 years. Okay, let's examine the result.

16A. Physician for Dickens' Miss Havisham?: SPINSTER DOCTOR (14). Do I play SPIN DOCTORs or explain the Great Expectations character? Spinster is such a fun old-fashioned word.

25A. Station for exercisers on wheels?: HAMSTER RADIO (12). If I were a hamster I would find this clue hurtful; these days HAM RADIOS are not that popular.

43A. Expert guard dog?: MASTER BARKER (12). MA BARKER was an infamous gangster head of a crime family. She and her son Fred were killed in Central Florida. 

56A. Cool cat's affectionate friends?: HIPSTER HUGGERS (14). Hip huggers fueled my adolescent fantasies along with mini-skirts.

On to the rest:

Across:

1. Trendy:  À LA MODE. Not only for pie and ice cream. We have a lot of French from our Canadian Constructor.

8. No longer outstanding: REPAID. "Does he still owe you money? No, he repaid me."

14. Catch-22: PARADOX.

15. "Am I the problem?": IS IT ME? One of the multi-word fill.

18. Morales of "Ozark": ESAI. This role is very far from his days on NYPD.

19. Canada's Buffy Sainte-Marie, by birth: CREE. She was born in Canada and was also a musical idol in my adolescent year when I listened to her, Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Joan Baez and so many more.

20. Math functions: SINES.

22. Fleur de __: sea salt: SEL. French - this means "flower of salt." Kazie, do you think it should be Sel de Mer?

23. Clever remarks: MOTS. Bon mots, also French. I guess this is all colloquial, perhaps influenced by Quebec?

24. Sedate: CALM.

29. Earth tone: OCHER. Ochre from yesterday or ocher is a natural clay earth pigment which is a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in color from yellow to deep orange or brown.

32. Ancient colonnade: STOA. Stoa, plural Stoae, in Greek architecture, a freestanding colonnade or covered walkway.

33. "Disgusting!": ICK.

34. Diamond figure: RHOMBUS. A square is also a rhombus.

37. Play seriously: COMPETE.

39. "... this night, being __ my head": Shak.: OER. Romeo and Juliet: ACT II, Scene 2
O, speak again, bright angel! For thou art
As glorious to this night, being o'er my head,
As is a wingèd messenger of heaven
Unto the white, upturnèd, wondering eyes
30Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him
When he bestrides the lazy-puffing clouds
And sails upon the bosom of the air.

40. Hideout: LAIR. This was very big in the old Westerns and Adam West BATMAN.

42. Soft touch: PATSY. Last week, it was a sap.

47. Foil relative: EPEE.

48. Couple: DUAD. Another odd coincidence, as this was in Wednesday's puzzle and PK's post yesterday. That was its second appearance the first being in 2012.

49. Andean stew veggie: OCA.

52. Rapper Ice Cube's first name: O'SHEA. O'Shea Jackson Sr., known professionally as Ice Cube, is an American rapper, writer and actor. Ice Cube initially gained recognition as a member of the hip-hop group C.I.A.

54. Clothes to clean: WASH. Hi honey, I will do the wash tonight.

55. Zipcar parent company: AVIS. ZIPCAR is a car-sharing service, where you can rent a car for an hour or two, and pay by the minute or the hour. It is the response to the success of UBER, LYFT, and Airbnb.

59. Texas oil city: ODESSA.

60. State: ENOUNCE. Not in my vocabulary but an easy guess.

61. Waver: TEETER. Back and forth; cannot make up my mind.

62. Computer input: DATA SET. This is a collection of related sets of information composed of separate elements but can be manipulated as a unit by a computer.


Down:

1. Stained glass settings: APSES. A familiar church part also in Wednesday, right next door to ...

2. Slip: LAPSE. No, I am sure it was deliberate.

3. Type similar to Helvetica: ARIAL. One of many sans serif types.

4. Nail treatment: MANI. But no pedi?

5. Has too much: ODS.

6. One involved in a memorable "bubble": DOT COM. An insightful ARTICLE explaining the bubble and the burst.

7. Puts forth: EXERTS. Effort.

8. Tease: RIDE.

9. Juan's "that": ESO. Spanish one.

10. Selfies, e.g.: PICS.

11. Ancient region ruled by Athens: ATTICA. Some HISTORY.

12. Small portion explanation: I'M ON A DIET. Makes sense but not easy to get this multi-word fill.

13. Ones neglecting their duties: DERELICTS. I have only seen the word used to mean a person without a home, job, or property. I do know the term dereliction of duty, though.

17. Score marks: RESTS. Musical score.

21. Soul singer Robinson's debut album: SMOKEY. This was after he left the Miracles. LINK.

23. Material for Michelangelo's "David": MARBLE. David is a 5.17-metre (17.0 ft) marble statue of a standing male nude. The STATUE.

25. Train bottom: HEM. Train on a dress; very tricky for a three letter fill.

26. Series-ending abbr.: ETC.

27. Pal of Piglet: ROO.

28. Stepped (up): RAMPED.

29. Words from a balcony: O ROMEO. This is the response to 39A.
O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name.
35Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.

30. Unsportsmanlike conduct: CHEAP SHOT. Some from FOOTBALL.

31. Baseball, in old slang: HORSEHIDE. Footballs were pigskins and baseballs...

35. Former Mideast gp.: UAR. United Arab Republic.

36. Member of the fam: SIB.

38. __ value: PAR. A securities term.

41. Control tower device: RADAR.

44. Mobile home?: TEEPEE. Cute, as you roll them up and go.

45. Hurried: RUSHED.

46. Islands VIP: KAHUNA. We do not often get Hawaiian words, this means a wise man or shaman.

49. Some Viking appliances: OVENS. Viking Range Corporation is an appliance company that manufactures kitchen appliances for residential and commercial use. Viking originated the "professional" segment of kitchen appliances with its introduction of the first professional-grade range for home use in 1987. wiki.

50. "Odyssey" sorceress: CIRCE. In Greek, it is pronounced KIRKE. She was a goddess of sorcery (pharmakeia) who was skilled in the magic of transmutation, illusion, and necromancy. Not to be confused with CERSEI.

51. Plus: ASSET.

53. Kind of D.A.: ASST.

54. Diminish slowly, with "off": WEAR.

55. Líquido para café: AGUA.  Spanish two to finish language lesson.

57. "The Cocktail Party" monogram: TSE. Thomas Stearns Eliot, OM, was an essayist, publisher, playwright, literary and social critic

58. Grasped: GOT. I hope you all grasped the theme and solved with a smile on your face.

A very nice Friday workout built around a solid theme with enough crunch to remind us it is Friday. Welcome back to Friday Craig, thanks for telling us of your life and keep them coming. Lemonade out.

Friday, October 12, 2018, Ed Sessa

Title: Sub-chapter C? No, we need an S Corporation to solve this.

One of the many very successful constructors who emerged since we moved to the LAT, Dr. Sessa, a pediatrician presents us with his 86th LAT to go along with 36 NYT publications, hitting for the cycle in both venues. My first time blogging him was the same day his INTERVIEW with C.C. was published in 2011. Today we have a very simple and getable theme, merely adding a cedilla. It is a mark ( ¸ ) written under the letter c, especially in French, to show that it is pronounced like an "s" rather than a "k" (e.g., façade ). Here we just change the C to S. As Ed said in his interview, he wants to amuse and to make the theme an aha moment. I saw the theme with BRISK LAYER which made the solve much easier. As a seasoned professional, he adds a variety of sparkly fill. ACTUALLY, BATH SOAP,  COROLLAS,  DIAMETER,  OVERLAPS, and SHIMMIES. The themers-

17A. Eggs-uberant hen?: BRISK LAYER (10). My Uncle Harold taught BRICK laying in trade school. The clue is funny to me.

24A. Loon, at times?: DUSK CALLER (10). The change from DUCK caller would not help unless you know Loons (the official bird of the Corner) was famous for its night CALLING.

36A. Do some '80s Sochi sunbathing?: BASK IN THE USSR (13). This 1968 Beatles song -BACK IN THE USSR - is repurposed with memories of the 2014 Winter Olympics.

49A. Hitchhiking and texting?: THUMB TASKS (10). Thumb TACKS and hitchhiking are not as popular as they used to be, but it is amazing how fast young people maneuver their thumbs while texting. 

59A. What young elephants do for fun?: NIP AND TUSK (10). The first known usage of 'nip and TUCK' comes from the Arkansas Times and Advocate, August 1838: "It will be a close race in this county - Tully and Cummins, nip and tuck; and I don't know which will have it." 

The rest-

Across:

1. "Ta-ta!": SEE YA. I like this expression.

6. Kaput: SHOT.

10. Musical ending: CODA. JzB can say more about this as the concluding passage of a piece or movement, typically forming an addition to the basic structure

14. Ready for the operation: UNDER. The anesthesia.

15. Dance that may involve a chair: HORA. This is back again! Let's dance. We had a great Simchat Torah party this year with lots of dancing. It is not often you get to dance with a 99-year-old wonder , I was the one with the cane.

16. "Amores" poet: OVID. Publius Ovidius Naso, was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the three canonical poets of Latin literature. LINK.

19. Like used books: READ. Well-read I hope.




20. __ Xtra: cherry soda brand: PIBB.
No longer Mr. Pibb. I wonder if Dr. Pepper is next.

21. Apple on a desk: IMAC.

22. Word with ring or book: WORM. Sounds like a puzzle theme.

23. Rights org.: ACLU. American Civil Liberties Union.

27. Butler on a plantation: RHETT. Not the one who opens the door but the one who doesn't give a damn.

29. Like Colbert's show: ON LATE.

30. Kiss: SMOOCH.

35. Summit: APEX. Or acme.

40. "The Well-Tempered Clavier" composer: BACH.

41. Taking medication: DOSING. Does he mean taking LSD? I know he is trained, medical man.

42. Final flight destinations?: ATTICS. Wonderful clue.

44. Kitchen shelf array: HERBS.

54. Tick repellent: DEET. N, N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide, also called DEET (/diːt/) or diethyltoluamide, is the most common active ingredient in insect repellents.

55. __ Club: SAMS.

56. When repeated, fish on a menu: MAHI.

57. "That being the case ... ": IF SO.

58. Letters after E?: COLI. Hard to parse.

61. The third Mrs. Roy Rogers: DALE. I had no idea the Leonard Slye had two prior marriages. LINK.

62. Airer of many NCAA games: ESPN.

63. Farm stray: DOGIE.

64. 1974 CIA spoof: S*P*Y*S. After the massive success of M*A*S*H, this movie which also starred Elliott Gould and Donald Sutherland were marketed with the asterisks to make people think they had something in common.

65. Reasons: WHYS. Why not?

66. Cornered, in a way: TREED. Forced or chased up a tree: a treed raccoon.


Down:

1. Not up to snuff: SUBPAR.

2. Increase the value of: ENRICH.

3. Consumer-friendly?: EDIBLE. A stretch but it actually works.

4. Hedge opening: YES, BUT. Another tricky variation clue; well done.

5. Biblical traveler: ARK.

6. Former SeaWorld attraction: SHAMU.

7. Georgetown athletes: HOYAS.

8. Eponymous vacuum brand: ORECK. Founded by David Oreck in 1963, Oreck Corporation began as a manufacturer of upright vacuum cleaners for the U.S. hotel industry.

9. Roofer's supply: TAR.

10. Popular Toyotas: COROLLAS.

11. Has in common: OVERLAPS.

12. Line through the middle: DIAMETER.

13. Include: ADD.

18. Pot top: LID.

22. Lacking color: WAN.

25. Ben of Ben and Jerry's: COHEN. Ben & Jerry's was founded in May 1978, when Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield opened an ice cream shop in Burlington, Vermont. ... In 1977, they moved to Burlington, Vermont, and completed a five-dollar correspondence course in ice cream making from Pennsylvania State University. Encyclopedia.

26. "Toy Story" dinosaur: REX.

28. Scolder's cluck: TSK.

31. In the __ of: MIDST.

32. Creator of Iceland's Imagine Peace Tower: ONO.

33. Ties may be broken in them, briefly: OTS.

34. Only half-pretentious?: CHI.

36. Bar by the tub: BATH SOAP.

37. If truth be told: ACTUALLY.

38. Does a ragtime dance: SHIMMIES.

39. "That's disgusting!": UGH. Which describes...

40. Skeeter eater: BAT.

43. "60 Minutes" network: CBS.

45. One slightly changed this clue: EDITOR. Was it only slightly?

46. Storm shelter, say: REFUGE.

47. Blues great Smith: BESSIE.

48. Fired up: STOKED.

50. Sect in Pennsylvania's Lancaster County: AMISH. Today, there are over 25 different Amish, Mennonite, and Brethren church groups in Lancaster County, all holding to slightly different traditions and their own interpretations of the Bible.

51. Like maple trees and pigeons?: SAPPY. Pigeon as in the victim of a scam, a sap.

52. Ruling descendants of Genghis: KHANS. The FAMILY TREE.

53. Thing to confess: SIN.

58. DJ's inventory: CDS.

59. Strange (to): NEW.

60. "Silent Spring" subj.: DDT. The novel by Rachel Carson was published in 1962. I remember it as being very controversial at the time.

I really enjoyed this puzzle and writing up all the different things that it revealed. I also was very proud of Oo and honored at the Torah party. Thank you Dr. Seesa and thank you all.

Friday, October 5, 2018, Paul Coulter

Title: I see the sea, see?

More Corner prescience, as Steve referenced the difficulty in putting theme fill next to each other. Paul is back with one of the most difficult Fridays for me in a very long time.  It is a strange puzzle, with 84 words, 60 of which are 3 or 4 letters long. Just because the fill is not long does not mean it was easy. HENNAING and  LIE-ABEDS are the only long fill outside of the grid-spanning reveal  - 42A. Result of polar ice melt graphically shown by the second part of six two-part puzzle answers: RISING SEA LEVELS (15). This made the theme sort of easy to spot, and I saw that if 63A BAL  moved up next to 57A TIC, it named a sea I was familiar with (BALTIC). Likewise, ARAB and IAN (ARABIAN)  but from there it was a learning experience made more challenging by the US failure to teach geography. The (2) and (1) made finding the remaining pairs easy. There are six pairs, and I only was sure of those two. Well, I really look forward to Paul's comments today, and all of yours. My information is from various sources online.

The theme:

Pair one- 25A. Univ. aides (1): TAS (3). 20A. "Wow!" (2): MAN (3). The TASMAN SEA is a section of the southwestern Pacific Ocean, between the southeastern coast of Australia and Tasmania on the west and New Zealand on the east; it merges with the Coral Sea to the north and encloses a body of water about 1,400 miles (2,250 km) wide and 900,000 square miles (2,300,000 square km) in area.

Pair two- 28A. Damage (1): MAR (3). 22A. Actress Kate (2): MARA (4). The MARMARA SEA is an inland sea located entirely within Turkey's borders. It separates Turkey's Asian and European parts by connecting the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea. It does so by connecting the Black Sea to the Marmara Sea via the Bosphorus Strait and the Aegean Sea to the Marmara Sea via the Dardanelles Strait. The Marmara Sea is the world's smallest sea covering only 4,380 square feet.

Pair three- 30A. Helpless? (1): SOLO (4). 24A. Cal. column (2): MON (3). The SOLOMON SEA is a portion of the western South Pacific Ocean, bounded on the west by New Guinea, on the north by New Britain, and on the east by the Solomon Islands. With an area of 280,000 square miles (720,000 square km), the sea contains the Louisiade Archipelago, New Georgia, and Guadalcanal Island.

Pair four- 58A. Happy hour spot (1): BAR (3). 54A. Sinusitis docs (2): ENTS (4). The BARENTS SEA, a marginal sea of the Artic Ocean, was once known as the Murmanskoye Morye by the Russians. It appears as such in a 1595 atlas. The basin countries of the Barents Sea are Russia and Norway (they drain into this body of water).

Pair five- 61A. Many an Omani (1): ARAB (4). 56A. Author Fleming (2): IAN. The ARABIAN SEA's largest islands include Yemen's Socotra, Oman's Masirah Island, India's Lakshadweep, and Pakistan's Astola Island. Countries that have coastlines along the Arabian Sea include India, the Maldives, Pakistan, Oman, Yemen, and Somalia.

Pair six- 63A. Remaining loan amt. (1): BAL (3). 57. Sign of nerves, maybe (2): TIC (3). The BALTIC SEA is the youngest sea on our planet, emerging from the retiring ice masses only some 10,000-15,000 years ago. Governed by special hydrographical and climatic conditions, the Baltic Sea is one of the planet’s largest bodies of brackish water. It is composed of salt water from the North East Atlantic and fresh water from rivers and streams draining from an area four times larger than the Sea itself

Again the reveal:
42A. Result of polar ice melt graphically shown by the second part of six two-part puzzle answers: RISING SEA LEVELS (15).

Well if you are not all worn out, let's solve all the rest.

Across:

1. Take to the cleaners: HOSE. We start with a tricky slang verb- slang : to deprive of something due or expected : TRICK, CHEAT.

5. Lay low: HID. After hosing them you need to.

8. Pretty companion?: PLEASE. With a cherry on top.

14. Windows alternative: UNIX. UNIX is an operating system which was first developed in the 1960s, and has been under constant development ever since. By operating system, we mean the suite of programs which make the computer work.

15. Drop the ball: ERR.

16. Dragster's wheels: HOT ROD. Some history. LINK.

17. Wedding ring?: HORA. Very tricky, but literally a dance in a circle and popular at Jewish weddings.

18. Class-conscious org.?: NEA. More tricky cluing, class like in school. National Education Association

19. Charge: ACCUSE. For me, it brings to mind J'ACCUSE.

32. Infamous Amin: IDI. Amin (in Arabic أمين) is an Arabic and Persian male given name that means "faithful, trustworthy"

33. Constriction of the eye's pupil: MIOSIS. I did not know this. I think of plants.

35. Apple's apple, e.g.: LOGO. Another fun clue.

39. Hail, to Hadrian: AVE. He built a wall in Rome.




40. All over again: ANEW.

41. "I'll second that": AMEN.

47. Isn't idle: ACTS.

48. Deep blue: ANIL. The indigo shrub; or the indigo dye obtained from the plant

49. Track meet segment: LAP.

50. Authenticity emblem: SEAL. Still used by courts and clerks.

51. Parlor furniture item: SETTEE. The settee, a precursor to the sofa and type of love seat, is characterized by a straight back, room for two people, and founded atop four legs.

53. Hot time in Haiti: ETE. Summer.

65. Individually: APIECE.

67. Dug, with "up": ATE. Did you eat up this puzzle?

69. Big times: ERAS.

73. A through E, at times: WIDTHS. Shoes.

74. Sprout: LAD. Two very old-fashioned words.

75. Courteous: NICE.

76. Snares with a loop: LASSOS.

77. Med. show locales: ERS.

78. Serve sparingly, with "out": DOLE.


Down:

1. "Say what?": HUH.

2. Dedicatee of Lennon's "Woman": ONO. Yoko next to...

3. McCartney's title: SIR. Paul.

4. Checkup: EXAM.

5. Applying a temporary tattoo: HENNAING. Very big in Key West.

6. Boiling state: IRE.

7. Scotch serving: DRAM. Poor Hamish Macbeth has to dole out many a wee dram.

8. Seven Wonders lighthouse: PHAROS. A long HISTORY.

9. One from town: LOCAL. We always called them townies.

10. "Yada yada yada" letters: ETC. Thank you George Costanza.






11. Jack-in-the-pulpit family: ARUM. We are talking PLANTS not about a preacher named Jack.

12. Fair: SO SO.

13. First place?: EDEN. Not leading the league, but where it all began.

21. Mideast capital: AMMAN. Jordan.

23. Faulkner's "__ Lay Dying": AS I. His writing is very respected and his novel the subject of much DISCUSSION.

25. Pageant toppers: TIARAS.

26. It may be unsolicited: ADVICE.

27. Daybreak?: SIESTA. More misdirection, a break during the day not dawn.

29. Agile deer: ROES. This is a small, agile Old World deer, Capreolus capreolus, the male of which has three-pointed antlers. CUTE.

31. Norse patron: OLAV.

34. Hard work: SWEAT. Blood, sweat and tears.

36. Fare filled and folded: OMELET.

37. Trattoria desserts: GELATI. The plural. Gelato is simply the Italian word for ice cream, but in English, it has come to mean specifically Italian or Italian-style ice cream.

38. With no guarantee of payment: ON SPEC. Spec homes are still popular here in South Florida where an older home is torn down and replaced with a much bigger house.

43. Cartography dot: ISLE.

44. Against: ANTI.

45. Reluctant risers: LIE-ABEDS. An old-fashioned word that has appeared in much literature.
LINK.

46. Barack's 2010 High Court appointee: ELENA.  Please no more politics. KAGEN.

51. Emphasize: STRESS.

52. That, in Tijuana: ESA.

55. Snack chip: NACHO.

58. Much more than a sniffle: BAWL.

59. Samoa's capital: APIA. A better clue than, "Either Lindstrom or Zadora."

60. Purges (of): RIDS.

62. One may be stored in a barn: BALE. Is that anyway to treat this man?

64. Advance: LEND.

66. Sci-fi staples: ETS. Extra-terrestrials.

68. Blacken, in a way: TAR. Not La Brea today.

70. Copacabana city: RIO.

71. Commonly torn ligament, briefly: ACL. The anterior cruciate ligament is one of the key ligaments that help stabilize your knee joint. The ACL connects your thighbone (femur) to your shinbone (tibia).

72. Note: SEE.

A very different puzzle from our own PC, and of course I am curious to know what you all think. I always enjoy a when a constructor combines visual elements. I found it hard but satisfying. Happy week-end all. Lemonade out.