Friday August 18th 2023 Lewis Rothlein

(Notes from C.C.: MM is on vacation. Steve will cover for him the next few weeks. Thanks for helping us again, Steve!)

 

 

Theme: Dis-located. "DIS" pops up in the middle of a phrase:

17A. Blackmailer's ultimatum?: CASH OR DISCREDIT.

26A. Message such as "Still looking for my golf ball in the tall grass"?: ROUGH DISPATCH.

42A. Pawn shop, essentially?: HOUSE OF DISCARDS.

and the reveal:

53A. Faded away, and what happened in 17-, 26-, and 42-Across?: DISAPPEARED.

I liked the theme and the resulting phrases, although I'd question "Pawn shop", maybe "Junk shop" might be more accurate. That's a minor nit though. The top center section was sitting quite empty when the rest of the puzzle was complete, but I eventually stared it down. Let's see what else we've got to talk about:

Across:

1. Quad spot: LEG. Quadriceps.

4. Pollen producers: STAMENS.

11. One turn after another?: ZAG. Nice clue, after a zig you zag.

14. Kaplan of Yo La Tengo: IRA. 

15. Was allowed to vote: HAD A SAY.

16. Tuber also called a New Zealand yam: OCA. These tubers, grown as a major crop in the Andes:

20. "Which __ say ... ": IS TO.

21. Pollen collector?: PETAL.

22. Extract: MINE.

23. College Park athlete, for short: TERP.

24. Vote against: NAY.

25. Lobbying orgs.: PACS.

31. Dessert ruined by Little Jack Horner: PIE.

32. Washington state brewski: OLY. Not really. Pabst aquired the brand in 1999 and shut down the Olympia brewery in 2003, but still continued to promote is as being produced in the state from Washington water. They faced a class action lawsuit for false advertising in 2018, and the action failed only because they'd ceased to produce the brand by the time the suit came to federal court in 2022.

33. Racket dampener?: SHH.

36. Garment with adjustable straps: BRA.

38. "La __ en Rose": VIE.

39. Tazo product: TEA.

46. Writer Bombeck: ERMA.

47. Arrange, as a sari: DRAPE.

48. Wilts: SAGS.

49. Genre that uses a caricature style known as chibi: ANIME.

51. Mantra syllables: OMS.

52. Matchstick wood: ASPEN.

56. Massage style: SHIATSU.

58. Puts on the line, maybe: AIRS OUT.

61. "I'm ready to play, coach!": PUT ME IN.

62. Duo: TWOSOME.

63. Tina of "30 Rock": FEY.

64. Defunct D.C. stadium: RFK. I had "VET" at first, for "The Vet", or Veteran's Stadium, completely ignoring the fact that the Vet was in Philadelphia, not D.C.

65. Tree feller: SAW.

66. "Sweet!": RAD.

Down:

1. Not outlawed: LICIT. Couple of missteps here until the crosses corrected me. LEGAL followed by LEGIT (which I didn't like anyway) before finally landing on LICIT.

2. Crossword solver's need, maybe: ERASER. We've all been there!

3. Gourmet's prefix: GASTRO.

4. "Billions" airer, briefly: SHO. Showtime.

5. Large spread: TARP.

6. Summer term?: ADDEND.

7. Curaćao and rum drink: MAI TAI.

8. Takes in the paper?: ESSAYS.

9. Pickling mineral, chemically: NACL.

10. Med. nation: SYR. Quite a few of these. SPA, FRA, MON, SAN, ITA, CRO, SER, GRE ... and I haven''t even got to TUR.

11. Signs from above: ZODIAC. 

12. Child's play: A CINCH.

13. Airport array: GATES.

18. Words said while patting a stool, perhaps: HOP UP.

19. Needing filling: EMPTY.

27. Teasing remark: GIBE.

28. Tenor role in "Salome": HEROD.

29. Unflappability: POISE.

30. Guinness of "Lawrence of Arabia": ALEC.

33. __ butter: SHEA.

34. Traffic sound: HORN.

35. Heat index factor: HUMIDITY.

37. Arts festival that calls itself "the other Black experience": AFROPUNK.

38. Prime viewing spots: VIP SEATS.

39. Secret exit, maybe: TRAPDOOR.

40. Periphery: EDGE.

41. Gp.: ASSN.

43. Seuss character: SAM I AM.

44. Almost dry: DAMP.

45. Appraise: ASSESS.

50. Czech Olympian Ledecká who won gold in two winter disciplines: ESTER. She won the gold at the 2018 Olympics in in the Super-G and in Parallel Snowboarding, making her the first person to compete in the Winter Olympics using two different kinds of equipment (skis and snowboard), and, by definition, the first person to win gold medals in those events and at the same Olympic Games.

52. Directional aid: ARROW.

54. "You're kidding, right?": AS IF.

55. Boombox brand: AIWA. I thought these were literally a "blast from the past" but you can still buy them.

56. Initialism for certain applications: SPF. Sunscreen.

57. Saffron or sage: HUE.

59. Actress Thurman: UMA.

60. "Ideas worth spreading" org.: TED.

I think it's just the grid left, and we're done!

Steve

Friday, December 23, 2022, Lewis Rothlein

 

Good day, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here wishing everyone a Merry Xmas Eve Eve and a Happy 5th day/upcoming 6th night of Chanukah.

On that note, presenting the recently-named recipient of the 2023 Mark Twain Prize For American Humor:

Adam Sandler - The Chanukah Song

Today's puzzle setter is Lewis Rothlein.  On August 13, 2022, Husker Gary recapped one of Lewis' puzzles and provided some biographical information on the author.  Here is a link to that:  13 August 2022 LAT Crossword Corner.  Lewis has also had puzzles published in that well-known east coast newspaper.

Today, Lewis plays with his words by adding an additional word to the middle of a common compound word or expression and, thereby, completely changing the original meaning.  Let's start with the reveal which does a good job of describing what is going on:

35 Across:  Pivotal element, and what each word in quotes in the starred clues literally is to its answer?: CENTERPIECE.

A CENTERPIECE usually graces a table at, say, a wedding or a company holiday party.  In this case, thought Lewis uses it as the center (as in between) point between two other words.

Here are the themed clues/answers:

17 Across:  *Begin to chase, with "off": TAKE AFTER.  If you TAKE AFTER someone you emulate them.  If you TAKE OFF AFTER someone you chase them.

24 Across:  *Try to delay, with "for": PLAY TIME.  PLAY TIME is, of course, a time for having fun.  If you PLAY FOR TIME you are stalling,

47 Across:  *Gaining prominence, with "and": UPCOMING.  An UPCOMING event will be here soon.   If you are UP AND COMING your fame and/or fortune is ascendant

55 Across:  *Do some creative accounting, with "the": COOKBOOKS.  We all love COOKBOOKS here on the Corner but if you COOK THE BOOKS you may be committing a felony.  Hi, SBF!  Did you have a good year? 

Here is how this all looks in the grid:

Across:

1. Common foundation: SLAB.  A common and cost effective way to build.  Just hope that you never need to access the plumbing embedded in the SLAB.

5. Singer in the biopic "Walk the Line": CASH.  Johnny Cash.  The title of the biopic was taken from the eponymous title of the song (written by Johnny R Cash).

9. 1980s cloning target: IBM PC.  Hand up for first thinking of DOLLY the SHEEP.  Burn those ROM.

14. Coil in a garden: HOSE.   Fortunately,  not a garden (garter) snake.

15. "The __ for home lives in all of us": Angelou: ACHE.  Not familiar with the poem but it was not too hard to suss once a perp or two kicked in.

16. Half a comedy duo: MEARA.  So many (five-letter) duos from which to choose (Chong, Lewis, Burns, Allen, etc. but the puzzle setter went with Jerry Stiller and Anne MEARA.

On The Carol Burnett Show

19. "Your table's ready" buzzer: PAGER.

20. Illuminates: EDIFIES.

21. Seductive quality: ALLURE.  The world's first great fisherman possessed something that no one before him ever had.  ALLURE.

23. One ensuring accuracy on a grand scale?: TUNER.  As in tuning a Grand Piano.

26. Vare Trophy org.: LPGA.

27. Praises: LAUDS.

29. Up to, briefly: 'TIL.  Un TIL  "Briefly" hints at truncation.

30. Start of an adage about humanity: TO ERR.

32. Solar __: SYSTEM.  PLEXUS  would have fit the allotted space.

37. Emergency signals: FLARES.

39. WWII Polish resistance hero Sendler: IRENA.  Born 15 February 1910.  Under the pretext of conducting sanitary inspections she, and others within the Social Welfare Department, smuggled food, clothing and other necessities into the Warsaw Ghetto.  She helped smuggle out residents when the liquidation of the population within the Ghetto was ordered.  She was arrested by the Gestapo in 1943 and sentenced to death by firing squad.  She escaped this fate because the guards escorting her were bribed and she "escaped".

Irena Sendler

40. Illuminated: LIT.  Often used to mean drunk or drugged.

41. Country roads: LANES.  Today's let's pass on the John Denver moment.

43. Coarse file: RASP.

50. Revere alternative: BY SEA.  The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere is a poem by Henry Wadswoth Longfellow.  It contains the lines:

51. Rumbled, as thunder: ROLLED.

52. Less tender: TOUGHER.

54. McCartney of Wings: LINDA.  Paul was too short (he's actually about 5'10" tall).

57. Broke off: ENDED.  I broke up with a girl once because she was having hallucinations.  She said, "I can't see you anymore."  Which was weird because I was standing right in front of her.  Then she said, "You don't understand.  I'm seeing someone else."  Which was really odd because there were just the two of us in the room.  I had to break it off after that.

58. Exhort: URGE.  

59. Layered cookie: OREO.  How do I clue thee?  Let me count the ways.

60. Torment: AGONY.  Tom Lehrer on the subject:

The Masochism Tango

61. Walked (on): TROD.

62. Laura of "Big Little Lies": DERN.

Down:

1. Type of village in Isaac Bashevis Singer stories: SHTETL.  Yiddish for town.

2. Pack, as a moving van: LOAD UP.

3. __ price: ASKING.

4. Tower of London figure: BEEFEATER.  Not, for example, the height or age of the tower,

5. Cozy eatery: CAFE.

6. Show parts: ACTS.  A part of a show.  E.G.  ACT two Scene three.

7. Pop duo __ & Him: SHE.  Unfamiliar with this duo outside of crossword puzzles.

8. Announce grandly: HERALD.  Hark the HERALD Tribune sings . . .

Mr. Lehrer, Again - A Christmas Carol

9. Intimate: IMPLY.  Not intimate (accent on the first syllable) as in close (as in near by not as in shut).  Intimate (accent on the final syllable) as in to hint at.  Isn't the English language a real . . .

10. Corker: BEAUT.

11. "The Treachery of Images" painter: MAGRITTE.  Call it art and that's what it becomes.  Rene MAGRITTE.

12. Early delivery: PREEMIE.  Natal reference, not UPS or FEDEX.

13. Wheels: CAR.  Slang.

18. Cause of inflation: AIR.  Literally, not financially.

22. Scottish girls: LASSIES.  I choose to believe in female Minotaurs. It's a lass half bull mindset.

24. Good vibrations?: PURRING.  See also 35 Down.

25. Dartboard wood: ELM.

I Didn't Know That!

27. Leaves be: LETS LIE.

28. "All bets __ off": ARE.

31. Common Scrabble tile value: ONE.

33. Nikkei index currency: YEN.  The Nikkei is Japan's equivalent of the NYSE.

34. Impressive and then some: SCARY GOOD.  This one involved some head scratching followed by an Aha! moment.

35. Tower for a pet who likes to climb and hide: CAT CONDO.

36. Not post-: PRE.   PRE means before and POST means after.  To use both at the same time would be preposterous.

37. Target of an annual vaccine: FLU.  What's the difference between the avian FLU and the swine FLU?  One requires tweetment and for the other you need oinkment.

38. Facial piercing: LIP RING

42. Scene-ending phrase: AND CUT.  Hollywood-ese.

44. Washed up, maybe: ASHORE.  Cute.  Washed Up, of course has its own meaning - to be no longer skillful or successful.  In this case washed ASHORE.

45. One on a quest: SEEKER.

46. Marrying sort?: PARSON.  I could have gone with Parson Brown from the song  "Winter Wonderland" but instead chose this John Forster song (it'll become clear with the last line):

48. Of yore: OLDEN.  What was the major activity of OLDEN day peasants?  Serfing.

49. Word said with a curtsy: M'LADY.

50. Buster: BUB.  MAC PAL BRO 

52. Like drive-thru orders: TO GO.

53. Authorized: OK'ED.

54. Place to ruminate: LEA. Not ruminate as in to turn a matter over in your mind.  Ruminate as in to chew cud, the source of the previous idiomatic use of the word.  LEA = pasture or meadow.

56. "Catch-22" pilot who crashes repeatedly: ORR.  Often clued with reference to the hockey player.  In this case, a reference to the Joseph Heller novel.

Lewis Rothlein, you are invited to post anything you'd like to share about this puzzle, its evolution, the theme, or whatever, in the comments section below.  We'd love to hear from you. 

That's all for today's recap.  Have a great weekend, everyone.  Happy Holidays!

Milo Minderbinder out . . .

__________________________________________________________________

Notes from C.C.:

 

Happy 78th birthday to dear Misty, who's been with our blog for over 9 years. Here is a picture of Misty and her husband Rowland celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary in 2009. 

 

Saturday, August 13, 2022, Lewis Rothlein

 Saturday Themeless Puzzle by Lewis Rothlein

Lewis Rothlein lives in Asheville, North Carolina, where he teaches yoga. His work life has taken a winding course, from being a journalist, to a syndicated newspaper columnist, to teaching elementary school, to owning a yoga studio. He began solving crosswords after seeing the movie WordPlay and several years later, he began making puzzles, where his favorite part is coming up with clues that make him go "Yes!"

Across:

1. "Growing Up in New Guinea" author: MEAD - Some say she is the world's most famous anthropologist 

5. Softball club: BAT.

8. Retirement option: SERTA - The surface to which we retire every night

13. Semi bar: AXLE - Here's a hometown semi with multiple AXLES

14. Sage: GURU. Surely a GURU would be 9. Sage: ERUDITE.

15. Place to get bike wear: TREAD.

16. Screen symbol: ICON.

17. Lollapalooza: ONER - Okay...

18. Cost as much as: RUN TO - A simple oil change these day can RUN TO over $50

19. "Whatever you're thinking, no": DON'T GET ANY IDEAS with your 47. Drives: URGES. - A good pre-date declaration 

22. Bit parts?: REINS - Hi Yo Silver!

23. Less sound: SHAKIER.

24. Gets out of a slump?: SITS UP.

25. Emanate: EMIT.

26. "Hold on": WAIT.

27. Baltic port: RIGA - RIGA, Latvia on the, uh, Gulf of RIGA

30. Garter snake prey: NEWTS - These harmless snakes still scare us when we see them

34. Outer bank?: ATM - Fun clue!

35. Frank exchange?: TOFU DOG - Would I exchange a Fairbury Husker Dog for a TOFU DOG? Frankly, no!

37. KOA parkers: RVS.

38. Pet __: PEEVE.

40. Italian pronoun: ESSA  - ESSA is Italian for "it" but I read it is rarely used any more

41. Free of lumps: SIFT and 57. Free of lumps: EVEN.

              

42. Bluegrass legend Scruggs: EARL  - The breakthrough song for Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt

44. Small cutters: XACTOS.

46. CrossFit set: BURPEES.

49. Ohno who won "Dancing With the Stars" in 2007: APOLO - One fewer L than the moonshot

50. Cake that traditionally has coconut-pecan icing: GERMAN CHOCOLATE.

53. Severity: RIGOR - The word for RIGOR in RIGA is Stingrība

54. Patatas bravas, por ejemplo: TAPA - "Spicy Potatoes" in a TAPA bar

55. Go very slow, or very fast: DRAG - In a tractor pull a sled is DRAGGED slowly. In a DRAG race the vehicles go very fast 

56. Deal-maker: AGENT - MLB star Juan Soto's AGENT thinks he can get him a $500M contract

58. Breakfast brand: EGGO.

59. Like salsa: ZESTY.

60. Convertible's spot: DEN.

61. Off! ingredient: DEET - Here ya go

Down:

1. Part of the inn crowd: MAID.

2. Condemn harshly: EXCORIATE and the more familiar 41. Took to task: SCOLDED.

3. Recharging period: ALONE TIME.

4. Bridge inspector?: DENTIST.

5. Hit close to home?: BUNT - What every hitter should do when the third baseman is shifted way over toward second.

6. Products helpful when buying flooring: AREAS - Rectangular AREAS are a product of length times width

7. Attract attention: TURN HEADS.

8. Attracting attention: STRIKING - See previous clue

10. "Hamilton" Tony winner __ Elise Goldsberry: RENEE.

11. Volga region native: TATAR.

12. Stirs: ADOS - The noun not the verb

14. Makes a major decision?: GOES PRO - ~0.5% of high school baseball players get offered a pro contract 

20. Masai Mara migrant: GNU - Here's a group of GNUS moving through Kenya's Masai Mara National Reserve 

21. Vegetable related to lilies: YAM.

24. Even trade: SWAP.

28. Words from a runner: IF ELECTED - Broken presidential promises

29. Giancarlo's "Better Call Saul" role: GUS - Giancarlo Esposito played the passive-aggressive and ruthless GUS Fring.

31. Magnified: WRIT LARGE - Meaning: "Very obvious." The success of a candidate is usually WRIT LARGE by their amount of campaign money.

32. Some coverage: TV FOOTAGE.

33. Old boomers: SSTS.

35. Social event where Alice is asked, "Why is a raven like a writing desk?": TEA PARTY - Lewis Carrol wrote that he never intended for there to be answer.

36. Many a Zapotec: OAXACAN - (Waa Haa Cun). Zapotecs are a group indigenous to this area of southern Mexico.

39. State whose capital is named for a French city: VERMONT.

43. Driver's "Star Wars" role: REN - This character is Kylo REN. In Footloose, Kevin Bacon played REN McCormack.

45. PFC's address: APO - Army or Air Force Post Office. FPO is the Navy's Fleet Post Office. 

46. Color whose name comes from Old French for "natural wool": BEIGE - Derivation with a BEIGE background!

48. Prepare cheese, in a way: SHAVE.

50. Austrian city on the eastern edge of the Alps: GRAZ - A little over 2hr SSW of Vienna 

51. Transparent: OPEN.

52. Awards acronym: EGOT - Mike Nichols and Rita Moreno have won the PEGOT - Peabody plus the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. Richard Rodgers and Marvin Hamlisch have one as well when you substitute Pulitzer for Peabody.