Wednesday, November 4, 2020 Mike Peluso

 Theme: Stay on the right track ~ or ~ We are well trained.

This is best explained by starting with the unifier.

59A. Engineer, brakeman and conductor ... and what the ends of the answers to starred clues comprise?: TRAIN CREW.  Those named professionals are indeed the CREW of a TRAIN.  The theme answers will make a TRAIN CREW of a different sort.

16 A. *Person to emulate: ROLE MODEL.  This is the person who is a standout at what s/he does, performing at the highest level, getting the most done, and showing the right way to do it.  A MODEL TRAIN is a scaled down representation of a real TRAIN, used in the hobby of Rail Transport Modeling, which can be extremely elaborate and realistic.  

23 A.  *Thanksgiving condiment: TURKEY GRAVY.   Gravy is a sauce often made from the juices of meat - in this case, TURKEY, that run naturally during cooking and often thickened with wheat flour or corn starch for added texture.  It is typically served in a GRAVY boat.  The GRAVY TRAIN is a situation where one can make a great deal of money with very little effort.

35. *Effective remedy with little downside: MAGIC BULLET.  A medicine or other problem solving remedy, especially one newly discovered or unexpected with wonderful or highly specific properties.  A BULLET TRAIN is a high speed passenger rail transport that uses an integrated system of specialized rolling stock and dedicated tracks. They run at least 160 miles per hour, and some systems exceed 200 miles per hour.

50 A. *A high-profile trial might become one: MEDIA CIRCUS.  This is any news event that attracts coverage that is excessive in degree and/or duration, or out of proportion to the event being covered.  This is often also magnified by sensationalistic reporting.  A CIRCUS TRAIN is transportation to take a CIRCUS company from one venue to the next.

 

Across:

1. Band with an electrical symbol in their logo: AC/DC.

 

  5. Youngest woman to serve in the U.S. Congress, familiarly: AOC.  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez [b 1989,] also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for New York's 14th congressional district.

8. Aromatic herb: SAGE.  Salvia officinalis is a perennial, evergreen subshrub, with woody stems, grayish leaves, and blue to purplish flowers. It has a long history of culinary and medicinal use.

12. Church divide: AISLE.  The passage between the rows of seats, benches or pews.

14. Rapping MD?: DRE.  Andre Romelle Young [b. 1955,] known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper, record producer, audio engineer, record executive, entrepreneur, and actor. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, 

15. Mariano Rivera's record 652: SAVES.  Mariano Rivera is a Panamanian-American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees, from 1995 to 2013. Nicknamed "Mo" and "Sandman", he spent most of his career as a relief pitcher and served as the Yankees' closer for 17 seasons.  

A relief pitcher recording a save must preserve his team's lead while doing one of the following:

- Enter the game with a lead of no more than three runs and pitch at least one inning.

- Enter the game with the tying run in the on-deck circle, at the plate or on the bases.

- Pitch at least three innings.  [Source]

18. LGBTQ part, briefly: TRANS. This designation, along with its many variants, refers to anyone who is non-heterosexual or non-cisgender.

19. Wavelike pattern: MOIRE.  A large-scale interference pattern that can be produced when an opaque ruled pattern with transparent gaps is overlaid on another similar pattern. For the moiré interference pattern to appear, the two patterns must not be completely identical, but rather displaced, rotated, or have slightly different pitch. [Wikipedia]

20. "Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses" singer Kathy: MATTEA.   Kathleen Alice Mattea (b. 1959) is an American country music and bluegrass singer. Active since 1984 as a recording artist, she has charted more than 30 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including four that reached No. 1.

 

 21. Arafat's gp., once: PLO. Palestine Liberation Organization.

26. Nigerian pop star: SADE.  Helen Folasade Adu [b 1959] known professionally as Sade Adu or simply Sade [pronounced Shad-day, don't ask me why] was born in Nigeria, but brought up in England. She has had an enormously successful career.

 

 28. Brief moments: SECS.  Seconds, briefly.

29. Notable times: ERAS.  Jazz, for example

30. Summer beverage: ICE TEA.  Brewed TEA served over ICE.  Let the ICE - ICED controversy commence.

33. "__ Tu": 1974 hit: ERES.

 

 39. Spoken: ORAL.  Communicated using vocal sounds.

40. Trickeries: FRAUDS.  Fakes, phonies, shams.

43. Tel __: AVIV.  Tel AVIV Yafo, to be complete, is a city on Israel's Mediterranean coast with a population of 460, 613.

47. Brown and blonde: ALES.  Less hoppy than IPAs.

49. Cream or Nirvana: TRIO.  Groups of three musicians.

54. Red Sox rivals, on scoreboards: NYY.  New York Yankees.

55. Literally, French for "again": ENCORE.  Makes sense.

56. Perot of politics: H ROSS.

 

  58. Memphis tourist street: BEALE.  One of the city's main tourist attractions.

 

 63. Gillette razors: ATRAS.

64. Carrier to Tokyo: ANA.  All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd is Japan's largest airline.

65. Hotel patron: GUEST.  Paying customer.

66. Lays down the lawn: SODS.  Puts rolls of grass in place.  Nice word play.

67. Time out?: NAP.  "Out" meaning asleep.  

68. Palm gadgets, briefly: PDAS.  Personal Data Assistants.  Mobile devices which function as personal information managers.  Now pretty much displaced by muti-functional smart phones.

Down:

1. Swiss river: AAR.  A tributary of the High Rhine and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland.  Its total length from its source to its junction with the Rhine comprises about 295 kilometers (183 mi.)

2. Corp. tech exec: CIO.  The Chief Information Officer is the company executive responsible for the management, implementation, and usability of information and computer technologies.

3. Internet connector via phone line: DSL MODEM.  Digital Subscriber Line is a family of technologies that are used to transmit digital data over telephone lines.  A modem – a portmanteau of "modulator-demodulator" – is a hardware device that converts data from a digital format.

4. Jazz singer Laine: CLEO.   Clementine Dinah Bullock (b 1927) is an English jazz and pop singer and an actress, known for her scat singing and for her vocal range. 

 

 5. Venomous snakes: ADDERS.  Any of several groups of venomous snakes of the family Viperidae, fond in various parts of the world.

6. Tram load: ORE.  In mining.  

7. Disney frame: CEL.  A special or limited edition version of artwork from an animated cartoon.

8. "No Exit" dramatist: SARTRE.  Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre ]1905 –1980] was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. 

9. Personal user pic: AVATAR.  An electronic image that represents and may be manipulated by a computer user.

 
10. Lake on the French/Swiss border: GENEVA.

11. Op-ed pieces: ESSAYS. 

13. Send out: EMIT.  As, frex., radio waves or light. 

15. Alone, at a party: STAG.  

17. Christian sch. in Tulsa: ORU.  Oral Roberts University.

20. Whitman "53-Down" subject: MYSELF.   SONG of MYSELF is a poem by Walt Whitman (1819–1892) that is included in his work Leaves of Grass. It has been credited as "representing the core of Whitman's poetic vision."

21. 23rd of 24: PSI.  Psi (Greek) (Ψ, ψ), the 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet. In both Classical and Modern Greek, the letter indicates the combination /ps/ (as in English word "lapse").

22. SupÈrieur, par exemple: LAC.  One of the Great Lakes, in French.

24. Company with spokes-elves: KEEBLER.  They make cookies.

25. Hose color: ECRU.  Originally, the natural color of unbleached linen.  It became more precisely defined as "a grayish yellow that is greener and paler than chamois or old ivory."  ECRU comes from the French word écru, which means "unbleached."

27. LAX posting: ETA.  Estimated Time of Arrival at Los Angeles International Air Port.

31. Star quality?: EGO.  Quality - I'm not so sure.  More precisely, a characteristic.

32. The Red Baron, for one: AIR ACE.   A flying ace, fighter ace or AIR ACE is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat.  Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen [1892-1918,] known in English as the Red Baron, was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during World War I. He is considered the ace-of-aces of the war, being officially credited with 80 air combat victories.

34. Canon initials: SLR. Single Lens Reflex, a type of camera.

36. Colombian metropolis: CALI.  Santiago de Cali, or CALI, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with  2,227,642 residents.

 
37. Have: EAT.  Consume.

38. Gets embarrassed, maybe: TURNS RED.

41. Tinkerer's abbr.: DIY. Do It Yourself.

42. Versatile bean: SOY.

43. One-celled critters: AMEBAS.   Unicellular organisms which have the ability to alter their shapes, primarily by extending and retracting pseudopods.

44. Rome's Via __: VENETO.  One of the most famous, elegant, and expensive streets of Rome, Italy. The street is named after the Battle of Vittorio Veneto (1918), a decisive Italian victory of World War I.

45. Bouncer's request: ID CARD.  Needed to get in, or he will bounce you out.

46. Members of string 49-Acrosses: VIOLAS.  Remember, 49 A was a musical trio.  Violas are the alto voices of the viol family, pitched a fifth below the violin, and an octave above the cello.

At 4 min 32 sec, this is the shortest example of a string trio I could find.  Takes a bit to get going, but is really quite beautiful.

 

 48. ESPN commentator Jeremy: SCHAAP.  Jeremy Albert Schaap (b.1969) is an American sportswriter, television reporter, and author. Schaap is an eleven-time Emmy Award winner for his work on ESPN's E:60, SportsCenter, and Outside the Lines.

51. Mars, to Greeks: ARES.  Two views of the God of War

52. Sch. with a Providence campus: URI.  University of Rhode Island.

53. Tune: SONG. Melody.  We have a few today.

57. Atlantic food fish: SCUP. The scup (Stenotomus chrysops) is a fish which occurs primarily in the Atlantic from Massachusetts to South Carolina.  Along with many other fish of the family Sparidae, it is also commonly known as porgy.  First I've ever heard of it.

59. Beach tone: TAN.  Could be the color of the sand; could be the darkening of your skin from the sun's rays.

60. Genetic material: RNA.  Ribonucleic acid.  It's complicated.

61. That, to Pedro: ESA. Spanish

62. Pkg. measures: WTS.  Weights.

OK, folks, we've reached the end of the line.  Hope you enjoyed the journey.  You know how I love to link music vids.  We had a trainload of them today, and a lot of variety.  Adios, for now.  Stay safe, wear a mask, and wash your hands.  Winter is coming.

Cool regards,

JzB

Notes from C.C.:

 

Look at these wonderful Halloween pictures of Lemonade's grandkids. The first is Owen (the youngest). Second Harper. Third Charlotte. Click here for all the sweet pictures from them all these years.

 

Wednesday, October 21 Mike Peluso

Theme - The unifier says it all, so let's start there.

38. Cautionary workplace axiom ... or a hint to the starts of the answers to starred clues: SAFETY FIRST.  A statement advising caution to prevent accidents and injuries.  The word SAFETY combines with the beginning of each theme answer to yield an in-the-language phrase.

16. *Old bowling alley employee: PIN SETTER.  Before there were automatic pin setting machines,  this job was done by hand, and it was dangerous.  A SAFETY PIN is a pin with a point that is bent back to the head and is held in a guard when closed.

23. *Pass prevention strategy: ZONE DEFENSE.  In football, a strategy in which defensive players are responsible for certain areas of the field to deter passing into that area.  A SAFETY ZONE is a marked area at or near a roadway for pedestrians, such as a bus stop.

50. *Bad homes for critics?: GLASS HOUSES.  Figuratively, a position in which one's vulnerabilities with regard to a certain issue are exposed, used as an admonition to avoid hypocrisy.  SAFETY GLASS is a type of product designed to resist breakage, or be less likely to cause serious injury when broken.  I spent the majority of my professional life dealing with it, and could go on at great length, but will spare you all of that

61. *One-on-one golf competition: MATCH PLAY.  A type of play in which the score is determined by the number of holes won rather than the total number of strokes.  A SAFETY MATCH is one that will only light when struck against a specific surface.

Hi Gang, JazzBumpa on duty to keep up all safe today.  Let's see what hazards this puzzle presents.

Across:

1. "... where the sun / Came peeping in at __": Thomas Hood: MORN.  That's starting the day off right.

5. Willie Mays, twice: MVP.  Most Valuable Player - an honor bestowed upon an individual for outstanding performance.  

8. Bowler's test: SPLIT. A situation where the first ball of a frame knocks down the head pin, but leaves standing two or more non-adjacent pins.

13. Carpet calculation: AREA.  Total amount of floor to be covered.

14. China setting: ASIA.  The continent.

15. Soccer star Rossi: PAOLO. [b 1956] His career spanned from 1973 to 1987. He is regarded as one of the best Italian players of all time. 

18. Cry of dismay: OY VEY.  From German, via Yiddish.  The English equivalent is "Woe is me."

19. Country singer Womack: LEE ANN. [b1966] 

 

20. Even things: ATONE.  Make amends or reparation.

22. Part of ESL: Abbr.: ENGlish as a second language.

28. Editor's change of heart: STET.  Indication that a correction or alteration should be ignored.

30. "I agree!": AMEN.  An utterance meaning "So be it."

31. It's north of Afr.: EUR.  The continents of Africa and Europe.

32. Not very exciting: HO-HUM.  Boring.

35. Seasickness symptom: NAUSEA.  Stomach upset with an inclination to vomit.

40. Elk: WAPITI.  From the Shawnee language.

42. Pre-discount prices: LISTS.  Manufacturers' suggested retail prices

43. Not well: ILL.  Sick

44. Dollop: GLOB. A lump of a semi-liquid substance.

46. Pacino's voice, at times: RASP.  Rough talk, talked roughly.

55. Golf standard: PAR.  The number of strokes a first-class played is expected to require to complete a hole.

56. Deal with: SEE TO.

57. Capitol feature: CUPOLA.  A dome.

59. Like four Sandy Koufax games: NO HIT.  A complete game in which the pitcher give up no hits to the opposing team.

64. It's good in Chile: BUENO.  Translation into Spanish

65. Agree with: ECHO.  Repeat the same thing.

66. Shoppe modifier: OLDE.

67. Shakespearean forest: ARDEN.  A wooded area in Warwickshire, Eng.

68. 2000s TV forensic technician, to pals: DEX. A show set in Miami in which Dexter, the eponymous hero, is a forensic specialist by day who by night hunts down and murders murderers who have escaped the law.

69. Fly high: SOAR.  Flew so high my arms are sore

Down:

1. Breakfast condiment sources: MAPLES.  Syrup suppliers.

2. Get one's bearings: ORIENT.  Align or position something relative to defined reference points.

3. Go back on a promise: RENEGE.  From medieval Latin meaning to deny. 

4. Org. in the biodrama "Hidden Figures": NASA. National Aeronautic and Space Administration. Tells the story of the African-American women who made outstanding contributions to the space program, while dealing with oppressive sex and race discrimination.

5. WY winter hrs.: MST. Mountain Standard Time.

6. Compete: VIE. Strive for victory or superiority.

7. Pre-Rose Bowl tradition: PARADE.

8. Many an "SNL" skit: SPOOF.  satirical skit

9. Two-time U.S. Open winner Stewart: PAYNE.

10. Illicit rendezvous site: LOVE NEST.

 

Close enough

11. La Corse, par exemple: ILE.  The Island of Corsica, in French.

12. Play (with): TOY.  A verb that looks like a noun.  You can TOY with a TOY.

14. 53 for I, e.g.: AT. NO. The Atomic Number for Iodine.

17. Split __: New Zealand band: ENZ

 

 From 1980

21. Court sport: TENNIS.  It's a racket.

24. Astro's finish?: NAUT.   They didn't quite get to the World Series, so, yeah - they're finished  But, sorry, this is a really ugly clue for an affix.

25. Harris of country: EMMY LOU.

 

26. Take to court: SUE.  Institute legal proceedings against (a person or institution), typically for redress.

27. Stat for Justin Verlander: ERA.  Earned Run Average.  JV had a series of injuries this year,  the most recent requiring Tommy John surgery, which he had about 3 weeks ago.  He only pitched 6 innings this year, and will miss the 2021 season.

29. Spicy cuisine: THAI.  Available in a variety of heat levels.  I like to get something made with coconut milk.

33. Time and again, to Yeats: OFT.  Often, to me.

34. Driver's license datum: HEIGHT.  Not my first thought, but there it is.

36. Poetic verb: ART.  [archaic] As in thou ART . . . [fill in the blank.]

37. Cold War letters: USSR.  Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.  Our foes in those days, and the Russians still to this day. 

38. Made waves?: SPLASHED.  Moved water with your hands or feet.

39. Slight fabrications: FIBS.  At what point does a FIB become a lie?

40. Freak (out): WIG.  Go ape.

41. Every bit: ALL.  The whole enchilada.

45. Rose ominously: LOOMED.  Appeared in an impressively great form as an impending occurrence, usually in a dangerous or threatening manner.

47. Swing era Harlem hot spot: APOLLO.  Read about it here.

48. Tea since 1892: SALADA.  An innovation in foil packaging preserved freshness and a more uniform flavor.  This lead to great commercial success in the early 1900's.

49. Supplication: PRAYER.  Petition or entreaty from a position of humility.

51. River to the English Channel: SEINE.  It is 482 miles long and drains most of northern France.

52. Resolute about: SET ON.  Bound and determined, as the old phrase had it.

53. Danish shoe brand: ECCO.  It was founded in 1963, and now produces other leather goods.

54. NFL defensive end Ndamukong __: SUH. [b 1987] He has played for the Lions, Dolphins and Rams, and is currently with the Buccaneers.

58. Med. plan options: PPOS. Preferred Provider Organizations.  A PPO is a type of managed care program of medical service providers that offers reduced rates to clients.

59. Home to Kings: Abbr.: NBA. In the National Basketball Association, the Sacramento Kings finished 12th in the Western Division

60. "__ Gang": OUR.

62. Versatile card: ACE.  Can be the highest or lowest card in various games.

63. "Much appreciated," in texts: THX. Thank you!

That completes another Wednesday.  Stay SAFE out there - wear a mask, keep you social distance, and wash your hands

Cool regards!

JzB

Sunday October 4, 2020 Mike Peluso

Theme: "Mistaken Identity" - One part of each familiar phrase is replaced by its partner in a familiar duo.

22A. Banking convenience with the wrong comic magician?: AUTOMATIC PENN. Automatic teller. Penn & Teller.

34A. Builder with the wrong surveyor?: STONE DIXON. Stone mason. Mason & Dixon.

50A. Feeling blue with the wrong publisher?: IN A WAGNALLS. In a funk. Funk & Wagnalls.

68A. Metalworker with the wrong gun manufacturer?: BLACK WESSON. Blacksmith. Smith & Wesson.

84A. Cheap knockout with the wrong puppet?: SUCKER JUDY. Sucker punch. Punch and Judy.

102. African currency with the wrong mapmaker?: KRUGER MCNALLY. Krugerand. Rand & McNally.

2D. Louvre sculpture of the wrong sister?: SERENA DE MILO. Venus de Milo. Serena & Venus.

56D. Intel product with the wrong toon rodent?: COMPUTER DALE. Computer chip. Chip & Dale.

Very consistent theme. Most of the duos are iconic partners. And clues all point to who they are.

I'm not familiar with Krugerand. Wiki says it's "a compound of Paul Kruger, the former President of the South African Republic, and rand, the South African unit of currency."

Across: 

1. It often involves a password: USER ID. It precedes a password.

7. Really wet spot: SWAMP.

12. Lucy's neighbor of old TV: ETHEL.

17. Narrow, roadwise: ONE LANE.

18. Town square art: STATUE.

19. Aced: NAILED.

21. Abrasions: SCRAPES.

24. Prince Valiant's love: ALETA. Sometimes we see their son ARN.

25. Appear suddenly: CROP UP.

27. Prepare for cooking, as beans: SOAK. Often I just cook my adzuki bean directly. 

28. Org. once led by Bush 41: CIA.

29. Hereditary unit: GENE.

30. Les États-__: UNIS.

31. DEA agent: NARC.

32. Editor's "On second thought" decision: STET.

33. That, in Santiago: ESA. And 96. Mex. miss: SRTA. 98. "¿Quién __?": SABE. Who knows?

38. "The Age of Reason" writer: PAINE (Thomas)

39. Gives sparingly: DOLES.

41. CPR pro: EMT. And 67. Part of 41-Acr.: EMER.

42. Hosp. triage specialists: ER DOCS. We have a hero in the VA Hospital in Minneapolis.

43. Refuses to concede: DENIES.

44. Small file folders, e.g.: ICONS.

47. San Antonio-to-Dallas dir.: NNE.

48. Big Apple paper, for short: NYT. They have quite a staff for their crossword division. Unlike LAT. Rich and Patti do all the work.

49. Wanderers: NOMADS.

53. Seed cover: ARIL. Pomegranate.

54. Sean of "Stranger Things": ASTIN.

55. Miami suburb with a Seminole-derived name: OPA-LOCKA.

59. Timbuktu's land: MALI. Remember this?  Music from Ali Farka Touré.

60. Type of card or watch: SMART.

61. "My Cousin Vinny" Oscar winner: TOMEI.

63. Dom Pérignon maker, familiarly: MOET.

64. Narcissism: EGOMANIA.

66. Underworld: HADES.

71. Like rough seas: CHOPPY.

73. Sty wallower: SOW.

76. Chicago-based grocery franchise: IGA.

77. Amend: ALTER.

78. Saturn, to Greeks: CRONUS.

79. Serious searches: QUESTS.

81. "Smell Ready" deodorant brand: AXE.

82. Rent again: RE-LET.

83. In __: unborn: UTERO.

89. Corner key that may get you out of a corner: ESC. In a corner.

92. Pallid: ASHY.

93. First baseman Wally most famous for being replaced by Lou Gehrig: PIPP.

95. "Was __ harsh?": I TOO.

97. Intl. commerce group: WTO.

99. Liable to sing?: BLABBY. Not a word I use.

101. Tracking device: RADAR.

105. "You didn't start yet, did you?": AM I LATE.

107. Watergate judge John: SIRICA. I only know John Dean.

 

108. Enter: TYPE IN.

109. Tea prep vessels: KETTLES.

110. Exams for sophs and jrs.: PSATS.

111. Hindu life lesson: SUTRA. Vidwan is a sage.

112. Influenced: SWAYED.

Down: 

1. Reunion arrivals: UNCLES. 

3. Really tickle: ELATE.

4. __ Nui: Easter Island: RAPA.

5. Having four sharps: IN E.

6. Ancestry.com datum: Abbr.: DESC. Descendant.

7. Exasperating, like a car that won't start: STUPID.

8. '60s dance craze: WATUSI. Knew from doing crosswords.

9. Sitting on: ATOP.

10. Silent: MUM.

11. Type of blouse: PEASANT.

12. '40s-'50s "Giant Brain": ENIAC.

13. Stable supplies: TACK.

14. Cool: HIP.

15. Formal choice: ELECTION. We already sent in our ballots. I fear mine might not be counted though. After I sealed my envelope, I realized that I forgot to put the ballot in that little envelope they provided. Boomer helped me unseal and then re-seal the whole thing. They might think my envelope looks suspicious.

16. Judge's choice: LENIENCY.

17. Missouri tributary: OSAGE.

18. River to Lyon: SAONE.

20. Modern crime-solving aid: DNA TEST.

23. Blue Jays, in crawls: TOR. Toronto.

26. Vie for office: RUN.

31. Chinese menu assurance: NO MSG. Still popular in Chinese kitchens.

32. Blue: SAD.

34. Arrived in a cloud of dust, maybe: SLID. Pretty epic.

35. Golfer's pocketful: TEES.

36. CIA predecessor: OSS.

37. TV warrior princess: XENA.

38. Green shampoo: PRELL.

40. Where it's risky to be out: ON A LIMB.

 

42. China's Zhou __: EN LAI. The most beloved politician in Chinese history. He shielded many people from being persecuted in Cultural Revolution. Here he's with his wife. 

 

43. Biker's headgear, perhaps: DO RAG.

44. Kind of vb.: INTR. Intransitive.

45. "I Am __": Jenner reality show: CAIT.

46. Dominate: OWN.

47. Barbers trim them: NAPES.

49. Identify: NAME.

50. Crooner Chris: ISAAK.

51. Certain club restriction: NO MEN.

52. "Can __ help me?": SOMEONE. "Hi Tom, do you know how ..."  The amount of stuff D-Otto knows!

54. Genoa gal pal: AMICA.

57. Hangs on to: KEEPS.

58. "Give it __!": A TRY.

60. Hosiery headaches: SNAGS.

61. Subdue with a shock: TASE.

62. Telltale warning, maybe: ODOR.

65. Gorsuch colleague: ALITO.

66. Marshall Plan pres.: HST.

69. Dental office simulation: WAX UP. New term to me.

70. Power co. output: ELEC.

71. Street __: CRED.

72. Like some orders: HOLY.

73. Gripes: SQUAWKS.

74. Exceed: OUTSTRIP.

75. Time for night owls: WEE HOURS. Quite a few night owls on our blog.

78. Wine label word: CRU.

80. Texter's "My bad": SRY. Sorry.

81. Ways of looking at an issue: ASPECTS.

85. Impressive, as a deal: KILLER.

86. Latin catchall: ET ALIA.

87. One-named Swedish singer with the 1997 hit "Show Me Love": ROBYN.

88. __ fair: JOB.

90. Specified: STATED.

91. Shows concern: CARES. Thanks, Nina, for helping me understand some medical terms.

93. Law office helpers: PARAS. Paralegals.

94. "Big Blue": IBM.

96. Language description derived from sailors' chatter: SALTY.

98. Breakaway group: SECT.

99. John was one: Abbr.: BAPT.

100. Himalayan denizens: YAKS. Butter tea is made with yak butter.  Goes well with tsampa, which is made of roasted barley flour.

101. "Lovely" citation issuer of song: RITA.

103. Actress Scala: GIA.

104. Manhattan sch.: NYU.

106. Contribution from the kitty: MEW.

C.C.

Thursday, September 17, 2020, Mike Peluso

Good morning, cruciverbalists one and all. Joseph, aka Malodorous Manatee, here. When C.C. approached me about joining the blogging team I felt pleasantly surprised. When I learned that my first assignment would be on a Thursday I felt a bit intimidated. Steve blogged on Thursdays. I do not know how many of his 354 posts were on Thursdays but he did choose to bid adieu on that day of the week and that is surely significant.

I started solving crossword puzzles thirty years ago. Far more recently, while searching online for an answer (or two), I stumbled across the L.A. Times Crossword Corner. Some time later I returned, scrolled down below the write-up, read through the comments and realized that I had descended into a warren of crossword nerds. Fellow crossword nerds. I am very pleased to have made the discovery.

In short, thank you CC for creating this space and thank you all for allowing me to play in your sandbox.

It is an honor to have been asked to be part of this team. Now, on to the puzzle.

I am less familiar with the work of Mike Peluso than I am with that of some other constructors. However, I greatly enjoyed this puzzle and his by-line is now solidly on the radar. The theme was clever and well executed. The grid, itself, is interesting and a bit out of the ordinary in a refreshing way.

Theme: Parlez-you Franglais? Four, ou Quatre, Homophones

Four pairings of the French name for a city or region with an English word.  The words in each pairing sound alike and, when read together, form a plausible proper adjective/noun combination.

17 A.   Excursion in a Loire Valley town?: TOURS TOUR.  Tours is a city in France located approximately 200 km southwest of Paris.  It is considered to be a gateway to use for exploring the chateaux of the Loire Valley.  Of course, one can also take a tour of Tours.

25 A.   Horse of southeastern France?: RHONE ROAN   The Rhone Valley is a region of France very famous for its wines.  A Rhone appellation with which some of us may be familiar is Chateauneuf-du-Pape.  These days, there are very good wines being made from Rhone varietal grapes that are grown in California, particularly in the Paso Robles area.  Two producers, among many, that you might wish to check out are Saxum and Herman Story.  There are several stables near Paso Robles where you can rent a horse be it a Roan, a Pinto or a Palomino.  Of these, the Roan is the horse most commonly seen in crossword puzzles.

36 A.   Relative in a Cote d'Azur family?: NICE NIECE.   Nice is another French city.  Located less than an hour's drive from Cannes, it is a pleasant place to visit.  If your sister's friendly daughter lived there you could have a pleasant visit with your nice Nice niece.

51 A.   Swindle at a French festival?: CANNES CON.   Home to a major film festival since 1946, Cannes is quite famous.  In 1954, actress Simone Silva showed up topless at a festival photo shoot.  Bones were broken in the ensuing scruffle.  If dancing, in lieu of toplessness, was employed to create a diversion as part of the swindle at the festival would it then be a Cannes Can Can Con?  

62 A.   Hybrid linguistic term that hints at the answers to 17-, 25-, 36- and 51-Across: FRANGLAIS.  The reveal, of course.  I took four years of High School French and am able to sorta kinda fake my way in Franglais.  Although I took only a single year of Italian (in college), I prefer to converse in Itanglese.

Across:

1.  Big bash: FETE.  A conundrum right out of the starting gate.  Four letters.  Is it going to turn out to be Gala or Ball, or FETE.

5.  Lestrade's rank, in Sherlock Holmes stories: Abbr.: INSP.  Do you know who this guy is?  Of course you do.

Inspector Gadget

9.  Music rights org.: ASCAP.  The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.

14.  Hose color: ECRU.  Four letters.  Two of them vowels.  A crossword staple.

15.  Ward of TV's "FBI": SELA.  I have a love/hate relationship with proper nouns when they're used in crossword puzzles.  If I know 'em then they are a big help.  If not, let's just say that crossing two of them in a puzzle should be, at the very least, a misdemeanor.

16.  Rattle: DAUNT.

19.  Others, to Pablo: OTRAS.  A slight pause to determine if it might be Otros.

20.  Former trucking watchdog agcy.: ICC.  The Interstate Commerce Commission.  Be careful 'cause they're a checkin' on down the line.

21.  Newscast attention-getter: TOP STORY.  Not to be confused with:

23.  National capital on the Cape Verde Peninsula: DAKAR.  With a population of roughly one million people, DAKAR is the capital of Senegal.  The metropolitan area has two or three times that many residents.  Coincidentally, this is the second time in three days that we have seen DAKAR in the daily puzzle. 

29.  Improve, as a highway: REPAVE.

31.  Composer Rorem: NED.  Hi Diddly Ho, Ned.  Oops, wrong Ned.

32.  Rome's __ Veneto: VIA.  When I was seventeen we took a family trip to Italy.  On the Via Veneto I looked for, but, alas, could not find, Sophia Loren.

33.  Going down: SETTING.  I first thought that SINKING might work out but SETTING it was.  Perhaps, at some point in time, a sinking ship video will be appropriate.

35.  Way off the highway: RAMP.  THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE could not be made to fit in the allotted space.   

40.  Minute Maid Park player, to fans: STRO.   My mother hailed from Brooklyn and I from Los Angeles.  It is probably best, therefore, that we not dive too deeply into this topic lest an animated discussion ensue.

43.  Rickety, say: UNSOUND.  Of mind, body or structural integrity?

46.  "Queen Sugar" creator DuVernay: AVA.  We have seen quite a lot of her in crossword puzzles in recent months.  A cluing update to Ava Gardner.

47.  Clear dishes from: BUS.  A word with several meanings.  A couple more  can be found at 48 Down, below.

50.  More work: UTOPIA.  Okay, Mike, you slowed me up with this one for a few moments because there is always More Work To Be Done To Be Done.

54.  "Because __ so!!": I SAID.  The concept came up here recently in a discussion here about dietary laws.

56.  Relieve: UNBURDEN.  This is what would have happened had The Animals decided to sever ties with their lead singer.  Sorry Ray, and yes, everyone else, too.

58.  Day-__: GLO.

59.  "Dust-colored," in Hindustani: KHAKI.  I always have trouble with the spelling of KHAKI.  This morning was no exception but it got worked out.

64.  Aspect of a problem: FACET  See NUKED at 52 Down, below.

65.  Accommodates: FITS.

66.  "Desperate Housewives" character: BREE.  I almost went with BRIE within the context of this puzzle.

67.  Set of beliefs: CREDO.  Could have been ETHOS.  Thank you, perps, once again.

68.  Old-time dagger: SNEE.  I always have trouble remembering if SNEE is the knife and SMEE is the pirate, or vice versa.

69.  Lip: SASS.  Alternatively, and in what would have required a much lengthier clue, SASS is, and I quote, "...the most mature, stable, and powerful professional grade CSS extension language in the world."   I think they're talking about something to do with computers.  

Down:

1.  Reeking: FETID.  I can think of a possible synonym.  Ten letters.

2.  Nissan Leaf and Toyota Prius: ECO CARS.

3.  River through Reno: TRUCKEE.

Truckin' On The Truckee

4.  Scand. locale: EUR.   I suspect that this was one of the clue/answer parings with which the constructor was least happy. 

5.  Ratio phrase: IS TO.  ISTO   INTO   UNTO   UNDO   UNDI  Voila, une word ladder.  UNDI is a village in the Indian State of Andhra Pradesh.  Okay, that's obscure but I couldn't conjure up a better last rung.

6.  Synthetic rubber used in waders: NEOPRENE.  There is a tradition at Crested Butte Mountain Resort, where I often ski, of stripping down and skiing in the buff on the last day of the ski season.  I once told my daughter that I might give that a try.  She looked at me and said, "Dad, you ski with so much Neoprene on that it won't matter."  (Knee braces, back brace, elbow sleeve, etc.)

7.  Winter weather aftermath: SLUSH.  What one often skis on on that last day of the ski season.

8.  "Islands in the Stream" duettist: PARTON.  Dolly is justifiably famous for a couple of reasons.

9.  Loved: ADORED.

10.  Man-goat of myth: SATYR.  Goat-man, ergo, goat-woman.  Are they satyr-ists?

11.  Tough mutt: CUR.

12.  Japanese carrier that sponsors a major LPGA event: ANA.   A timely entry.  The ANA Inspiration Tournament, one of the five major champiobnships of women's professional golf, was played just this past weekend.  Mirim Lee won the event in a three-way playoff.

13.  Box score abbr.: PTS.

18.  Low clouds: STRATI.  Would a selection of violins, violas, guitars, harps  and cellos from the master be Stradi varius?  Amati pleased with that pun.

22.  "__ of Us": Joan Osborne hit: ONE.   I was not familiar with this ONE.

24.  City addr. info: APT NO.  Apt.

26.  Eggs: OVA.  Alternative clue:  plural of a single cell often found in crossword puzzles.

27.  Point: AIM.

28.  Velvet feature: NAP.  Another one of those playful, pesky, and potentially perplexing homonyms.

30.  London's Old __: VIC.  An over-200-year-old, 1,000-seat theatre in London.  Was it called The Vic when it first opened?

34.  Serengeti bovine: GNU.

        Tourist:  "Can you tell me how to get to the museum?"

        Wildebeest:  "Sorry, I'm gnu in town."

35.  Enlists again: RE UPS.  One of those where, when you look at the completed puzzle the next day, you ask yourself something along the lines of "what the heck is a reups?"

37.  Flood: INUNDATE.

38.  Richmond winter hrs.: EST.  Did anyone here attend Erhard Seminar Training?  EST, as it was known, had a significant number of enthusiastic,  proselytizing adherents in the 1970's and 1980's.

39.  Sounding like a dove: COOING.

40.  Cul-de-__: SAC.  Cul-de-sac comes from the French, n'est ce pas, originally meaning bottom of the sack.

41.  FDR power program: TVA.  Many people were displaced when the TVA dams were built.  The flooding was central to the film O' Brother Where Art Thou?   The soundtrack album sparked renewed interest in traditional American music.  In 2010, I got to see Ralph Stanley perform at a music festival high up in the Rocky Mountains.  The Seldom Scene performed, too.  Quite a delightful afternoon.

42.  Was a candidate: RAN.   Often clued with a reference to the Akira Kurosawa motion picture.

44.  Falls for lovers?: NIAGARA.  It is somewhat surprising that this particular tourist attraction has not sold the naming rights.

45.  Newsstand buys: DAILIES.

47.  1800s Mexican leader Juárez: BENITO.   Perhaps, it is a good thing that the theme was not Itanglese.

48.  Flash drive port: USB.  Universal Serial Bus.  A computer industry standard for cables and connectors.

49.  Shoeshine targets: SCUFFS.

52.  Microwaved: NUKED.  In my desk drawer is a copy of Life magazine published the week I was born.  The magazine was received as a gift decades later.  In the Letters to the Editor section of the magazine is a somewhat lengthy discussion about the correct F-Stops and Shutter Speeds to use when photographing nuclear tests in the desert near St. George, UT.  These were above-ground tests.  Can you say fallout?  Talk about placing one's focus on a less important FACET of an issue!

53.  Longtime Utah senator Hatch: ORRIN.

55.  They're just what the doctor ordered: DOSES.  Or, Faline's female sibling?

Doe's Sis?

57.  Massachusetts motto starter: ENSE.  Having scrupulously avoided taking Latin as a language in school, I need to look up these state motto clues if the perps do not suffice.

59.  Louisville-based fast-food company: KFC.  Although based in Tennessee, KFC is very, very big in China.  Yum China owns/franchises KFC as well as Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.  Thomas Friedman is correct, The World Is Flat.

60.  Laugh syllable: HAR.    Over the decades, The Simpsons has provided many chuckles.  This was a gag appreciated by budding and veteran mathematicians alike:

61.  Nolan Ryan, notably: ACE.  I was lucky enough to see The Ryan Express (a riff on the title of David Westheimer's novel Von Ryan's Express) pitch at the Big A.

63.  Dumbbell abbr.: LBS.  Doh!  This type of dumbbell.  Now I get it.

Well, that's it for the maiden voyage...with not a single reference to Tom Lehrer, Weird Al, or Mel Brooks to be found.  Have to keep some powder dry.  Big thanks to C.C., Tom, Chairman Moe and the others who are helping me learn how to navigate the blog.  Because of their generous assistance, things (hopefully) went better than they did for RMS Titanic.

MM Out

 _____________________________

Notes from C.C.:

 

Abejo's wife Linda informed me that he's now at the ICU and on a ventilator. Please keep your thoughts and prayers on him!

 

 

Abejo with his tuba at a church Fat Tuesday event.