Thursday, August 25th, 2016 Max Carpenter

Theme: Celiac-Safe: None of the theme entries contain any of the letters G-L-U-T-E-N

17A. GLUTEN-free fare : SWORDFISH. The Andrea Gail which featured in the book and movie "The Perfect Storm" was a swordfishing boat.

26A. GLUTEN-free fare : BABY BACK RIBS. Food! I cook my ribs sous-vide and finish them in a searing-hot oven. Barbecue purists would cry "foul" but I'd back 'em in a blind tasting against anyone!

47A. GLUTEN-free fare : SHRIMP SCAMPI. Classic Italian-American dish of shrimp sautéed in olive oil, garlic, onion and white wine. In Italy, scampi are actually a specific kind of shrimp, also known variously as langoustines, Norway lobsters or Dublin Bay prawns.

Back off, buddy, I've got claws!

61A. GLUTEN-free fare : ROCKY ROAD. A dessert of marshmallow, chocolate and nuts; usually served up as a variety of ice-cream.

I was a little underwhelmed by this theme when I first looked at it - four foods or preparations which happen not to have any one of six letters, but the more I thought about it the more I liked it - the dishes themselves (depending on how the swordfish is prepared, most typically grilled) are actually gluten-free.

Plenty of Food! references to keep me happy too!

Max is also known for a puzzle where the gimmick was that each "W" letter was written out literally as a double-U. It's pretty certain that's the only time you'll see POUUUUOUU in a grid.

Let's see what else catches the eye today.

Across:

1. Not very exciting : DRAB

5. "__ the east, and Juliet ... " : IT IS

9. King whose gift became a curse : MIDAS

14. Tiny bit : IOTA

15. One pulling in pushers : NARC. Slang drug dealers gives us a slang narcotics officer.

16. Amtrak express : ACELA

19. 1983 Woody Allen film : ZELIG. The Z was my last fill, I was distracted for a while by the baseball ex-commissioner Bud SELIG and I'm not an expert on Polish dances.

20. Schoolyard "I'll show you!" : CAN TOO

21. Scholarly : ERUDITE

23. Like some headphones : ON-EAR. 30D's BOSE make mine - noise-cancelling for the plane.

24. Better at heeling, say : TAMER. Is Fido tamer or just better trained if he heels when commanded?

32. "GoodFellas" fellowship : MOB

35. Breaks : GAPS

36. Duffel bag filler, in a thriller : RANSOM

37. Sandwich guy? : EARL. The Earl of Sandwich who, as legend would have it, invented the sandwich when he didn't want to leave the card table to eat dinner and had his meat brought to him between two slices of bread.

39. Take care of : SEE TO

41. "Don't forget ... " : ALSO

42. Singer Nicks : STEVIE. Here's Ms. Nicks back in her Fleetwood Mac days singing "Rhiannon".

44. Modernists, informally : NEOS

46. Mind reader? : EEG. Nice! Brain scan.

50. Alma __ : MATER

51. Lacking the knack : INEPT

55. Supposed bringer of bad luck : EVIL EYE

59. Mimosa family tree : ACACIA. Likes a dry climate and often grows alone.

60. Gas used in flashtubes : XENON. The flash in your camera or your smartphone is a flashtube.

64. Chilean range : ANDES

65. K thru 12 : EL-HI

66. Radius neighbor : ULNA. Forearm bones.

67. "It could happen" : MAYBE

68. Father of Thor : ODIN

69. Padre's brothers : TIOS. Uncles, in Spanish.

Down:

1. Summer genre : DISCO. The singer Donna, not the season.

2. Atkinson of British comedy : ROWAN.  I prefer his "Blackadder" characters over the "Mr. Bean" persona. Check out the clips on the BBCWorldwide channel on YouTube.

3. More than just apologize : ATONE

4. Bill for shots : BAR TAB

5. Scoop or poop : INFO

6. With 63-Down, meditative discipline : TAI

7. Org. that takes many forms : I.R.S.

8. Blueprint : SCHEMA

9. Lively Polish dance : MAZURKA. I vaguely remembered this from the song "The Waiter, the Porter and the Upstairs Maid" sung by Bing Crosby in "The Birth of the Blues"

10. Like most cupcakes : ICED

11. Pastrami provider : DELI. I started the process of making pastrami yesterday. It'll be ready in around 22 days - it's the kind of thing you need to plan in advance!

12. Came down : ALIT

13. Guru : SAGE

18. Bandanna kin : DO-RAG

22. Place for family game night : REC ROOM

24. Arial, for one : TYPE. I was fixating on "The Tempest" at first and trying to come up with a four-letter word for "sprite" or "nymph".

25. Attendance record spoiler : ABSENCE

27. Regular hourly rate : BASE PAY

28. Genetic letters : RNA

29. Any one of the Arans : ISLE. Three islands off the west coast of Ireland in Galway Bay. Not to be confused with the Isle of Arran which is a Scottish island in the Firth of Clyde.

30. Big name in audio products : BOSE

31. Beijing blight : SMOG. I was lucky enough to visit Beijing during the Summer Olympics in 2008 when there was no smog - industry was shut down and car usage was restricted in the month leading up to the Games to clear the air. I thought the city was beautiful.

32. Serious disorder : MESS

33. Swear words? : OATH

34. Fox's title : BRER

38. Year in Nero's reign : LVI. He lasted as Roman Emperor from LIV through LXVIII and then committed suicide.

40. Run like heck : TEAR

43. Epic : IMMENSE

45. High on the Scoville scale : SPICY. It is if you equate spice with heat. Most spice mixtures aren't hot at all. The hottest I have is ghost pepper, three or four times hotter than a habanero, so it packs quite a punch.

48. Multichannel : STEREO

49. Making no progress : IN A RUT

52. Bacteria in a produce recall : E.COLI.

53. Brahms' instrument : PIANO

54. Proud cries : TADAS. Finishing moment for many online crossword solvers.

55. Teacher's handout : EXAM. Tried TEST. Didn't work.

56. __ cava : VENA. As well as the familiar blood vessel, this is also a winery in the Valle de Guadaloupe, Mexico.

57. May race, familiarly : INDY. The Indianapolis 500, more formally.

58. "Stay (I Missed You)" songwriter Lisa : LOEB. One of those songs that I know, but had no idea what it was called, nor who sang it.

59. Like, with "to" : AKIN

62. Out of use : OLD

63. See 6-Down : CHI

I think that's about it from me - have a nice day, all y'all and heeeeere's the grid!

Steve

Friday, May 1, 2015, Max Carpenter

Theme: I love U double!

In my current fog I have not located the record for the most use of the letter "U" in the LAT 15x15 puzzles, but the NYT record is 19. This puzzle has 34 "U"s. This I guess is as close to a rebus as Rich will allow, sort of an antonym to rebus with a letter spread into two spaces instead two squeezed into one. Anyway, white rabbit, white rabbit and welcome to the new month. May 1 has so many histories two examples LINK, and LINK.

We appear to have yet another debut puzzle, with his previous published work maybe in a college paper. Anyway, the puzzle was a gridding challenge to not only fit in 34 "U"s but to match up the perps. Max also gives us some lively intermediate fill, ACCUSE,  ALAMOS,  ANORAK, ARAFAT, BIKINI,  BRETON,  ERES TU, EUCLID, MOUNDS, YEASTY, ALGEBRA, CRITERIA, DICAPRIO,  RENOUNCE and  TOLERANT, which are nice contrasts. With theme answers ranging from 3 letters to a grid spanner and 18 of them we have work to do. (18 is a lucky number to some.) I look forward to the comments as without understanding the theme this would be impossible, and I know some do not like fill that is not a real word, yet creativity must be rewarded....

17A. Tennis shot delivered from between one's legs : TUUEENER (8). TWEENER. Not familiar with the term in tennis so the start was slow

20A. Duo : TUUO (4). TWO. Obviously the cluing cannot be too deceptive.

22A. Conference, informally : POUU UUOUU (9). POW WOW. The visual is so cool.

37A. Blogosphere backdrop : UUORLD UUIDE UUEB (15). WORLD WIDE WEB. This also is awesome, finding a 15 letter one.

44A. Quarterback's target: Abbr. : UUR. (3) WR, wide receiver. (Not part of the theme but a clecho) 46A. One targeting the quarterback : CENTER.)

48A. Socially inept : AUUKUUARD (9). AWKWARD. As is the look of the fill.

58A. Slapstick performer : CLOUUN (6). CLOWN.

2D. Sad : LOUU (4). LOW.  Feeling down.  (Not part of the theme but a clecho follows)

3D. Sad : GLUM.  This fill was key to my unlocking the theme.

6D. Really let loose : RAN UUILD (8). RAN WILD. One of my favorites of the theme fill.

7D. All over again : ANEUU (5). ANEW. With this many themers we were bound to get an A word.

10D. Declare : AVOUU (5). AVOW.

25D. High-profile caucus locale : IOUUA (5). IOWA. Election time coming soon along with the robocalls.

33D. Function : UUORK (5). WORK. Needed perps.

36D. Rod with power : UUAND (5). WAND.

38D. Court case : LAUUSUIT (8). LAWSUIT.

45D. Pigtailed redhead in a restaurant logo : UUENDY (6). WENDY. Dave Thomas' little girl.

48D. Leather craftsperson's beltful : AUULS (5). AWLS.

50D. Hospital division : UUARD (5). WARD.

And the reveal, 64A. Letter that hints at how 18 answers in this puzzle should be filled in : DOUBLE U (7).

Well with well over 100 spaces of theme let's see what he managed with the rest.

Across:

1. Math course : ALGEBRA. We also have Geometry below.

8. Oslo Accords participant : ARAFAT.Not politics, but HISTORY.

14. Broad-minded : TOLERANT. How appropriate to be next to a clue about Middle East peace talks.

16. Ranks : LEVELS. In the UK, students used to take O levels and then A levels to determine their academic future. I will let NC and our own Steve elaborate.

18. Cold-climate coat : ANORAK. In the US we usually call them parkas.

19. "Sounds good!" : YUM. Look good as well.

21. Almond Joy cousin : MOUNDS. Some days you feel like a nut....

24. Suit at a shoot : BIKINI. Nice word string in the clue, but I wondered if I am the only one who thought of this use of the ATOLL and the inclusion of 8D. Los __, New Mexico : ALAMOS,  the home to the Manhattan project and site of many tests. Coincidence?

27. Nine-digit no. : SSN.

28. Secretly send a dupe email to : BCC.

31. Unique : LONE.

32. Large moth : LUNA. Now this feels like a John Lampkin. He clued them as pale green moths in 2012 NYT.

35. Spicy Indian dish : CURRY. I will curry favor with my wife and mention her delicious versions of this Asian DISH.

40. Oklahoma city : TULSA.

41. Marriott competitor : OMNI. OMNI is luxury hotel, Marriott has many classes of hotel in their chain.

42. One way to get a hand : ANTE.

43. IBM-inspired villain : HAL.

51. Point one's finger at : ACCUSE. A reminder from Monday's puzzle/write up, and a very disturbing silent movie about war. J'ACCUSE.(5:42).

54. Apartment manager, for short : SUPE. Short for Super, short for superintendent.

55. Chronological start? : CEE. The old first letter trick.

59. Ceremoniously ushers : MARSHALS. Parades?

61. Geometry giant : EUCLID. I leave commentary to Fermat and Bill G and others more qualified. I was a math major for three months.

62. Yardsticks : CRITERIA.

63. Like the smell of rising dough : YEASTY. Is that what starts the juices flowing?

Down:

1. ABA member : ATTY.

4. Broad shoe size : EEE.

5. Jacques Cartier or Jules Verne, e.g. : BRETON. I found this FACT very obscure, but I was aware of the Celtic influence in France.

9. Formally abandon : RENOUNCE. I really liked this next to AVOW.

11. Fronded bit of flora : FERN.Alliteration abounds.

12. "__-in His Lamp": Bugs Bunny cartoon : A LAD. A Jerome worthy movie pun.

13. Impatient utterances : TSKS.

15. Slacks, briefly : TROUsers. Drop trou has so many connotations....

22. Strolling areas : PIERS.

23. Bolt with great speed : USAIN. A Super STAR.

24. "Arrested Development" surname : BLUTH.

26. Hillock : KNOLL. My generation will only think about a grassy one in Dallas.

28. Main impact : BRUNT.

29. Minos' kingdom : CRETE.

30. Modern crime head? : CYBER. Cybercrime. Anyone watching this SPIN-OFF which tries to meld their franchise shows with the popularity of nerds?

34. O.T. book : NUM. The beginning of a biblical mini-theme with 57 and 60D.

39. "The Wolf of Wall Street" star : DICAPRIO.

47. 1974 Mocedades hit : ERES TU. I had heard the song but had no idea of the ARTISTS. (3:14)

49. DOD branch : USMC. Semper Fi CSO to Argyle Dennis and all who served.

51. __-deucey : ACEY. The card game? The backgammon variation?

52. Footprint, maybe : CLUE.

53. Partner of Caesar : COCA. Imogene. A wacky woman who had a turn in the Vacation movies.

55. Swedish King __ XVI Gustaf : CARL. The reigning King, and has been for 42 years.

56. "Night" author Wiesel : ELIE. The Holocaust Remembrance Day was recent and we had a band which had two survivors as members perform at the ceremony at our little synagogue.

“Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed....Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my G-d and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as G-d Himself. Never.”
 Elie Wiesel, Night 

57. Isaac's hirsute son : ESAU. From Genesis, Old Testament to Christians, simply Torah to Jews.

60. N.T. book : HEBrews. New Testament, i.e. Christian TEXT.

UUell that was quite a UUorkout; UUhat did you all think? I hope Max stops by and I thank you all. Lemonade out.