Monday October 29, 2018 Paul Coulter

Theme: SURPRISE TEST (54. Unexpected classroom announcement ... and, initially, one hiding in each set of puzzle circles) - Three different tests are hidden in each theme entry.

20. Protective net above a cradle: DREAM CATCHER.

34. Government prosecutor: STATE'S ATTORNEY.

40. Reduced responsiveness to medication: DRUG RESISTANCE.

Boomer here.  

Hello everyone, and thank you for all the well wishes and birthday greetings.  C.C. and I  had a great Saturday meeting my son and daughter-in-law at the local Native American casino known as Mystic Lake in a south suburb of Minneapolis. (Shakopee). We enjoyed the buffet and then risked a few bucks in the casino.  (I'm pretty cheap, I play for nickels).  

Across:

1. Autos: CARS.  My mother worked for CARS at the VA.  (Stood for Central Accounts Receivable Service).

5. Cutlass automaker: OLDS.  Yup this is a car.  I never had a Cutlass, but I had a couple of Olds gas hogs in the 60s.

9. Stick-on design: DECAL.

14. Fever with chills: AGUE. Gesundheit!

15. Hide, as a bone: BURY.  I often wondered how the bone tastes when the dog digs it up ?

16. 100 bucks: C NOTE.  Or, 100 male deer in a GEICO commercial.

17. Breadbasket item: ROLL.

18. Read bar codes on: SCAN.  They are amazing!  I have a bar code on my VA ID and checking in to the clinic it reads the bar code and knows more about me than I do.

19. "Wizard of __ Park": Edison: MENLO.  Thomas Edison was a wizard and set up shop in Menlo Park, New Jersey, near Newark.  Since I had a long history with Graybar Electric, I sometimes feel I owe my career to Thomas Edison.

23. __ Paulo, Brazil: SAO.  Huge City !

24. Some tech sch. grads: EES.  I think the puzz is pointing at Electrical Engineers.

25. Type of energy or reactor: ATOMIC.  Don't get too close to this.

29. '60s-'70s quarterback Tarkenton: FRAN.  NFL Vikings Hall of Famer.  Number 10.  I remember some of the magic he worked back in 1961, when the Vikings were an expansion team!

31. Content cat sound: PURR.  PURRfect !

33. Spanish gold: ORO. Our Records Only

37. Philip of "Kung Fu": AHN.

38. Live and breathe: ARE. This are an interesting clue

39. "Ich bin __ Berliner": JFK: EIN. Yes, I am old enough to remember this speech, but I am sure younger folks have heard this line many times.

45. "Casablanca" pianist: SAM.  Play it again !

46. She sheep: EWES.

47. Blues singer James: ETTA.  Also Miss Kett

48. At first, second or third: ON BASE.  I might have guessed UMPIRE

50. Long __ of the law: ARM.

51. Airline to Stockholm: SAS.

58. Gorge: CHASM.

61. Aesop's also-ran: HARE.  I never believed that story about the tortoise .

62. "East of Eden" director Kazan: ELIA.

63. Blender button: PUREE.  Just make sure you have that rubber top on the thing or you will have puree all over your counter.

64. Barely makes, with "out": EKES. We eked out a few dollars on a 2 cent machine at Mystic Lake Saturday.

65. A short distance away: NEAR.

66. Accumulate: AMASS.  We DID NOT amass a fortune at Mystic Lake however.

67. "Wild" frontier place: WEST.  Remember Mr. West who played Batman ?

68. IRS form IDs: SSNS. You may give your last four, but not the whole works.

Down:

1. King and queen: CARDS.  We played Jacks or better Saturday

2. Greek marketplace: AGORA.

3. Hitchhiker's principle?: RULE OF THUMB.  Is there also a rule of finger ?

4. Actress Ward: SELA.

5. Lewd: OBSCENE.

6. "Star Wars" mastermind: LUCAS.  George Lucas created this epic movie.  If you purchased a few of the figures in 1977, you may have a fortune.  however, I bought baseball cards.

7. "Dang!": DRAT.

8. Lip-__: mouth the words: SYNC.  Not allowed at karaoke

9. U.S. capital transit system: DC METRO.  I've never been to DC. Couldn't get the votes.

10. First month of el año: ENERO.

11. Pro's opposite: CON.  Jails are full of these.

12. Braves, on scoreboards: ATL.  They didn't quite make it to the World Series this year, but I remember who beat them in the 1991 Series.

13. DiCaprio, in fan mags: LEO.  Short for Leonardo.  Famous for "Titanic"

21. Potatoes partner: MEAT.  Remember the Wendy's Commercial lady.  "Where's the Beef?"

22. "B.C." cartoonist Johnny: HART.

26. Tennis great with nine Grand Slam singles titles: MONICA SELES.

27. Goodnight woman of song: IRENE.  "I'll see you in my dreams."

28. Coquettish: COY.

30. Tolled like Big Ben: RANG.  The Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback does not toll.

31. Romeo's rival: PARIS.  I never read Shakespeare so I will take the word for this.

32. Salt Lake City team: UTES.

34. Leftovers wrap: SARAN.  I never liked the way it sticks to itself, but it seals better than wax paper.

35. Postage-paid enc.: SASE.  Acronym

36. Cost of living?: RENT.  And any other thing on which you spend money.

40. Brit. military award: DSO.

41. Job applicants' preparations: RESUMES. Rez oo may, not Re zoom

42. Pretty pitcher: EWER.  Not Chris Sale or Clayton Kershaw ??

43. Most concise: TERSEST.  I always thought Terse had a little anger in it too.

44. "Don't look __ like that!": AT ME.

49. Beasts of burden: ASSES.  No comment

50. Buenos __: AIRES.  It took me a while to learn that this is pronounced Ireez.

52. From China, say: ASIAN.

53. Popular performers: STARS. Dallas Hockey Team.  (Formerly Minnesota North Stars).

55. "That was close!": PHEW.

56. Leaves gatherer: RAKE.  A necessary tool this time of year.

57. Addition column: TENS. Gymnastics scores for Nadia.

58. Auditing pro: CPA.

59. Run smoothly: HUM.  Option if you cannot sing.

60. Altar in the sky: ARA.  I know this is Latin, but I could never see the so called pics in any of these constellations, except for the big dipper.  And it did not look like a bear.

Boomer

Sunday October 14, 2018 Paul Coulter

Theme:  "For Starters" - Each theme entry is mash-up of three types of item indicated by the circled letters.

 

22. Three types of (see circled letters: MAP): MERCATOR AREA POLITICAL.

32. Three types of (see circled letters: JET): JUMBO EXECUTIVE TURBO.

50. Three types of (see circled letters: MAN): MINUTE ANCHOR NEWSPAPER.

76. Three types of (see circled letters: CAT): CALICO ABYSSINIAN TABBY.

90. Three types of (see circled letters: CAR): CITROEN ACURA RENAULT.

108. Three types of (see circled letters: ART): AVANT-GARDE ROCOCO TRAMP.

In the old Tribune Media Daily days, sometimes we had "Three types of trees/fruits" themes. Just a simple mashup with convenient letter counts

Paul's take is different. The what in "Three type of ..." is circled and those three letters start each of the theme entry component.

I particularly like the CAT and CAR ones, as the answers are indeed "type of...". MAN are just words that can preceded MAN. Same with MAP and JET.

Across:

1. Eponymous Chanel perfume: COCO.

5. Eagerly enjoy, as praise: LAP UP. And 24. Eagerly enjoy: EAT UP.

10. Latitude: PLAY.

14. Not barefoot: SHOD.

18. Banned fruit spray: ALAR. University of Minnesota just developed a  new apple called "First Kiss". Supposed to be better than Honeycrisp.

19. Gladiator's realm: ARENA.

20. Pull-up beneficiaries: LATS.

21. Mold: SHAPE.



26. Naturally lit room: SOLARIUM.

27. "500" initials: S AND P. Standard & Poor's 500.

28. Stick in one's craw: RANKLE.

29. Q and A part: Abbr.: ANS. Answers.

30. Allocate, with "out": METE.

31. Word often paired with "great": LATE.



40. Mimics: APES.

41. Gadget's rank: Abbr.: INSP. Inspector Gadget.

42. Ann and May: CAPES.

43. Much of "Deck the Halls": LAS.

45. Eclipse, maybe: OMEN.

46. Wharton postgrad awards: MBAS.

48. "Bravo!": OLE.

49. Speech problem: LISP.



57. Resting place: BED.

58. Reception vessel: URN.

59. Most healthy: HALEST.

60. More than proper: PRISSY.

61. Electrolysis particle: ANION.

63. [not my error]: SIC.

64. Solemn: STAID.

66. "__ in the Boy's Room": 1973-'74 hit: SMOKIN.

69. Prepares to transplant: UNPOTS.

72. Control: OWN.

73. Small batteries: AAS.



80. "Chestnuts roasting __ open fire": ON AN. How I miss freshly roasted chestnuts. Popular street food in Xi'an in winter months.

81. Supermodel Carangi: GIA. Played by Angelina Jolie.

82. "Hamlet" quintet: ACTS.

83. Clambake trash: COBS.

84. Graphics file extension: TIF.

85. "Let's Make __": A DEAL.

87. Hit the bottle: TOPE.

89. History Muse: CLIO.



95. Les États-__: UNIS.

96. Gray matter?: Abbr.: ANAT. Gray's Anatomy.

97. __ es Salaam: DAR.

98. "The Birds" actress: HEDREN. Tippi. Mom of Melanie Griffith, mom of Dakota Johnson.

101. Special Forces cap: BERET.

103. Causes of fear: BUGABOOS.

111. Confine: LIMIT.

112. Works in the garden: DIGS.

113. He's got the life: RILEY. The life of Riley.

114. "Tosca" tune: ARIA.

115. Swing noisily, as a shutter: FLAP.

116. Omegas' counterparts: ZEES. Not the watch Omega.

117. Chip dip: SALSA.

118. Ballpark figs.: ESTS.


Down:

1. Pic takers: CAMS.

2. Parkay product: OLEO. We also have 53. Eclectic mixes: OLIOS.

3. Director Reiner: CARL.

4. Marine predator: ORCA.

5. About one-third of MLB players: LATINO.

6. Fire up: AROUSE.

7. Waves overhead?: PERM. Literally.

8. Acapulco article: UNA.

9. Astronomical measures: PARSECS. New to me. Google shows that it's about 3.26 light years.

10. Mars, for one: PLANET.

11. Sgt. Friday's force: LAPD.

12. Resting on: ATOP.

13. Designing initials: YSL.

14. Black eye: SHINER.

15. Online break-in: HACK.

16. Australian export: OPAL.

17. Remove from a manuscript: DELE.

21. Prestige: STATUS.

23. Many Qatar natives: ARABS. My friend Chris used to live Bahrain.



25. About to explode: IRATE.

30. Stand-up sort: MENSCH. Consonants-rich.

31. Star of the animated short "Two Scent's Worth": LE PEW.

32. Farr of "M*A*S*H": JAMIE.

33. Flip over: UPEND.

34. Computer list: MENU.

35. Chinese city known for its Terracotta Army: XI'AN. Gimme for you, right? I've been linking the soldiers from time to time. Hahtoolah said hello to them a while ago.

36. PC screen images: ICONS.

37. High-end hotel employees: VALETS.

38. Radar screen images: BLIPS.

39. Havens: OASES.

44. Agile: SPRY.

45. Fed. fiscal agency: OMB. Office of Management and Budget.

46. Fine wool: MERINO.

47. Bath in Baja: BANO.

49. Made, as a bet: LAID.

51. Roman garment: TUNIC.

52. Door fasteners: HASPS.



54. Prefix with linear: RECTI.

55. Salmon egg deposits: SPAWNS. Full of Omega-3.

56. In __: published: PRINT.

61. Analogous: AKIN.

62. Nile valley native: NUBIAN.

65. Perfectly: TO A T. Parsing!

66. Many a bagpiper: SCOT.

67. Bouncing off the walls: MANIC.

68. Norwegian king, 995-1000: OLAF I.

70. Spiral-horned African antelope: NYALA. Learning moment for me.

71. Attack verbally: SNAP AT.

73. Bubbling hot: ABOIL.

74. Monastery head: ABBOT.

75. Part of CBS: Abbr.: SYS.

77. Author James and baseball's Tommie: AGEES.

78. Cake-decorating artist: ICER.

79. Censorship-fighting org.: ACLU.

85. Gulf War journalist Peter: ARNETT.

86. "Nothing __!": DOING.

87. Radio knob: TUNER.

88. Figures of speech?: ORATORS. Great clue.

89. Diamond weight: CARAT.

91. Root vegetable: TURNIP.  Have you tried pickled turnip? You need beets for color.

92. Gentle touch: CARESS.

93. Brings out: EDUCES.

94. Major Japanese port: NAGOYA. Very crowded during cherry blossom period.

98. Not quite a majority: HALF.

99. Bad to the bone: EVIL.

100. Spanish lady: DAMA. I thought it's DONA.

101. Cheese on crackers: BRIE.

102. Barely beat: EDGE.

103. Cotton capsule: BOLL.

104. Highlands hillside: BRAE.

105. Pair in a dinghy: OARS.

106. Bypass: OMIT.

107. Resorts with body wraps: SPAS.

109. Carpentry tool: ADZ

110. Langley org.: CIA.

The CT scan Boomer had on Tuesday showed a few bad spots on his back. We're going to have more MRI scan and bone scan next week.

C.C.

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.

Thursday September 20th 2018 Paul Coulter

Theme: Jay Lend-o - Loan a letter to a phrase and come up with a "punny" new one.

17A. Norwegian coastal horse?: FJORD PINTO. Ford Pinto

Not only was this car a genuine menace to drive, but when Ford wondered why it wasn't selling in Latin America, they were informed, late in the marketing day, that "pinto" is a rather perjorative term for the size of a man's ..... equipment. I mean car.

24A. Excellent joke?: GREAT JAPE. Great ape.

39A. Where a sensei teaches how to slalom?: SKI DOJO. Ski-Doo. A Sensei in this context is a martial arts teacher; I know the term as a third-generation Japanese-American.

50A. "We sure fell for that one, Jack," e.g.?: JILL HUMOR. Ill humor. What? I mean I get it, but can we come up with a better clue? "You" rather than "we" makes a lot more sense; still terrible, but better than this effort.

The reveal?

62A. Was yanked offstage ... or what four puzzle answers did, in a way: GOT THE HOOK. The "J" is a hook-shape. Hence a j-hook in hardware, and probably fishing, although I didn't check the fishing bit. Wild stab in the dark with the fishhook.

Yep, nothing to argue about here. Find a phrase, add a "J" to it somewhere, clue it appropriately and move on.

And ..... the fill.

Across:

1. Have a sudden inspiration?: GASP

5. Embryonic membranes: CAULS

10. "Good going!": NICE!

14. Ancient Andean: INCA

15. Fully committed: ALL IN. Poker term originally, I believe. Bet all your chips on one hand of cards.

16. Cries at the Home Run Derby: OOHS. Baseball mini-theme today. Home Runs, pitchers and such.

19. Agitated state: SNIT. Agitated? Ticked-off, in my book.

20. Ring leader?: TORERO

21. Parenthesis, e.g.: ARC

22. Dún Laoghaire's land: EIRE. It used to be the primary ferry port between Great Britain and Ireland, but most, if not all, services have now been retured. Pronounced "Dun Leary" if you ever need to buy a ticket.

23. Largest division of Islam: SUNNI

26. Alpine transport: T-BAR

28. 2010 sci-fi sequel subtitled "Legacy": TRON

29. Grassy stretches: LEAS

32. Map line: ROAD

35. "A Doll's House" playwright: IBSEN

38. "The Martian" has none: E.T.S

41. Stat for Chris Sale: ERA. He's a pitcher, so Earned Run Average. Red Sox now, previously White Sox. I wonder what he did with the white ones from his uniform when he was traded? Or did he just leave them in his locker for the laundry guy? There are around 1,200 players each season in Major League Baseball. He's one of them. I just need to learn another 1,199 and I've got this year's crossword nailed.

42. Pronunciation symbol: SCHWA. This thing: ə. A mid-central vowel. A south-central vowel in Los Angeles is probably something else entirely.

44. PBS science series: NOVA

45. Small racer: KART

46. Barbershop part: BASS

48. McGregor who plays two roles on TV's "Fargo": EWAN. I've liked him since "Trainspotting" which I saw at an "arts theater" in Santa Monica and was hugely amused to see that it was subtitled English, in spite of being in English.

54. Jungle vine: LIANA

58. Big star: IDOL. Billy. Rebel Yell. Cue the music. 80's live pop excess.

59. Lincoln Ctr. site: N.Y.C. Also the site of my hd. off.

60. PBS science series: COSMOS. Chlecho trickery with 44A.

61. Brit's floor covering: LINO. We had lino in the bedrooms when I was a kid, and no heating. Getting up in winter was a bare-foot-meets-ice-rink experience.

64. Fuss: TO-DO

65. Dvorák's "Rusalka," for one: OPERA

66. Instead: ELSE

67. Scandinavian name meaning "cliff": STEN. What do you call a man with a seagull on his head? Cliff.

68. Block: DETER

69. Sunflower edible: SEED

Down:

1. They're kept under wraps: GIFTS

2. Pear variety: ANJOU

3. Contempt: SCORN

4. Raises: PARENTS

5. Guitarist's gadget: CAPO

6. "Aladdin" prince: ALI

7. __ nerve: ULNAR

8. Petrol unit: LITRE. Those British and their spelling. No reason to mess with the original French, but you know, what do those foreigners know?

9. Vehicle with caterpillar treads: SNO-CAT. Ski-doo, sno-cat. Winter today.

10. Often-cosmetic procedure: NOSE JOB.

11. View from Corfu: IONIAN SEA. Yep, nice spot for sure.

12. Sound from a tree: CHIRP. 

13. Competitor of Helena: ESTÉE. Lauder vs. Ruberstein. Gloves off!

18. Small amount: DRIB. Is a drab bigger or smaller than a drib? Surely it has to be one of the two, else you'd be doing something "in dribs and dribs" or "drabs and drabs".

24. Abdomen neighbor: GROIN. It's a toss-up which one you'd rather take a hit playing rugby. I've suffered both. I think I'd lean towards the abdomen given the choice.

25. Chamber music group: TRIO

27. Storied craft: ARK

29. "__ Miz": LES

30. "You get the idea" letters: ETC.

31. Light hair color: ASH BLONDE

33. Brouhaha: ADO

34. Matthew Arnold's "__ Beach": DOVER. A scary chap, he was a schools inspector, frightening in itself, but his work is referenced by Ray Bradbury and Ian McEwan - you know you're not in for an easy ride with his poetry or prose when you're in that company.

Only, from the long line of spray

Where the sea meets the moon-blanch'd land,

Listen! you hear the grating roar

Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,

At their return, up the high strand,

Begin, and cease, and then again begin,

With tremulous cadence slow, and bring

The eternal note of sadness in.

Dover Beach, Matthew Arnold

36. Be off: ERR. Surprised to to see a baseball reference ... oh wait ...

37. Bryce Harper, for now: NAT. Washington Nationals. There it is!

39. Ornamental band: SASH

40. Talk: JAW

43. Belgian language related to French: WALLOON

45. Deli snacks: KNISHES

47. Ra, in ancient Egypt: SUN GOD

49. Cosmetic additive: ALOE

50. Rejects suddenly: JILTS

51. Jerk: IDIOT.

52. Mr. Magoo, for one: MYOPE

53. Santa's reindeer, e.g.: OCTET

55. Whac-__: A-MOLE

56. Rope loop: NOOSE

57. FAQ part: ASKED. Frequently-Asked Questions link on a website.

60. Scorch: CHAR

63. Amount past due?: TRE. Uno, duo, tre. Any Green Day fans are wondering what happened to that triptych. Uno was delivered, I think duo and tre are still a twinkle in the band's eye.

Got Grid?

Steve

Tuesday, September 4, 2018 Paul Coulter

Baked Goods - Idioms

16. With 58-Across, "sweet" expression about consequences: YOU CAN'T HAVE YOUR.
58. See 16-Across: CAKE AND EAT IT TOO.  You have to pick one.  Either or. 

22. With 48-Across, "sweet" expression about consequences: THAT'S THE WAY THE.
48. See 22-Across: COOKIE CRUMBLES.  Sometimes bad things happen, and there's nothing you could have done that would have have prevented it. 

36. Experiencing some "sweet" consequences: EATING HUMBLE PIE.  Having to admit that you were wrong, or that you couldn't back up your boasts.

Paul takes the cake today in providing us with an easy as pie early week puzzle that has three grid spanners, proving again that he's one smart cookie !   Nothing half baked here; the proof is in the pudding.

Across:

1. Sail supports: MASTs.

6. Forearm bone: ULNA.

10. Balls and strikes caller: UMP.

13. Off-the-cuff: AD LIB. 

14. What insomniacs count: SHEEP.  Never worked for me.

15. Slithery squeezer: BOA.

19. Courses for coll. credit: APs.  Advanced Placement courses. 

20. __ de cologne: EAU.

21. Defensive trenches: MOATs.

27. Forest floor growth: MOSS.

28. Funnyman Jay: LENO.

29. Supercharged engine, for short: TURBO.

32. Bit of gel: DAB.

33. Flock female: EWE.

41. Gym shirt: TEE.

42. Car nut: LUG.  Not an automobile aficionado, but these:

The link to Lug Nut on Wikipedia

43. Be of use to: AVAIL.

44. Kind of butter used in moisturizers: SHEA.

46. Half up front?: HEMI.  Hemi won out over semi due to HULAS at 46D.  Saved my bacon.

54. Photographer Adams: ANSEL.

55. Yale student: ELI.

56. Soak (up), as sauce: SOP. 

63. Acapulco aunt: TIA.

64. Enjoys a novel: READS.

65. Songs for two: DUETs.

66. Bargain bin abbr.: IRR.  Irregular.

67. Thanksgiving side dish: YAMs.  I like them candied, as long as they are not cloyingly sweet.

68. Daisy variety: OXEYE.  Fine in your gardens,  but invasive in your pastures.

Down:

1. Poet Angelou: MAYA.

2. Take home from an animal shelter: ADOPT.

3. Partly melted snow: SLUSH.  Also, a type of fund in some circles.

4. Idiosyncrasy: TIC.

5. Entrepreneur-helping org.: SBA. Small Business Administration

6. "Yeah": UH-HUH.  No it isn't.  Yes it is.  Uh-uh.  Uh-huh. 

7. Pasture: LEA.   Paul, you got in EWE, SHEEP and LAMB and now Pasture/LEA.   Are you a part time shepherd or sheepherder ?   Or is this just a "sweet" consequence of coincidence in your fill today ?

8. Ariz. neighbor: NEV.

9. Theoretical primate: APEMAN.

10. WWII sea attacker: U-BOAT.  Unterseeboat - German for submarine, abbreviated and hyphenated to U-boat.

11. River delta area: MOUTH.

12. Break down grammatically: PARSE.

14. Sports figures: STATs. Statistics, not people.  Stats make it easy to compare player and team performance, but organizations are increasingly using analytics to get more meaningful information to aid in their decision making processes.

17. Loch with a legend: NESS. 

18. Up-and-down toy: YOYO.  My sister had a loving cat named Tinkerbell that had a Jacks ball that was her "Up-and-down toy."   In the early AM hours, Tinker would carry the ball up the stairs, and then push it down.  Then rumble down after it.  Then hide it when my dad got out of bed.  This went on multiple times until someone finally found the ball.   

23. Prefix with dextrous: AMBI.

24. Warner Bros. creation: TOON.

25. Jack of "Rio Lobo": ELAM.

26. Jack of "Dragnet": WEBB.  Played Sgt. Joe Friday.  Loved that show.  The opening, with dum-de-dum-dum sounds, was,  ''This is the city.  Los Angeles, California. I work here. I carry a badge. My name's Friday.  The story you are about to see is true; the names have been changed to protect the innocent."  Snopes fact checked and indicated that he never actually said, "Just the facts, ma'am." 

29. Vietnamese New Year: TET.

30. Abu Dhabi's federation: Abbr.: UAE.  United Arab Emirates.   "The Trucial States of the Persian Gulf coast granted the UK control of their defense and foreign affairs in 19th century treaties. In 1971, six of these states - Abu Dhabi, 'Ajman, Al Fujayrah, Ash Shariqah, Dubayy, and Umm al Qaywayn - merged to form the United Arab Emirates (UAE). They were joined in 1972 by Ra's al Khaymah." -  The World Factbook.

31. GPS suggestion: RTE. Route

32. Found really groovy: DUG.  Feeling groovy.


33. Antipollution org.: EPA. Environmental Protection Agency

34. Nintendo game console since 2006: WII.

35. Slithery swimmer: EEL.

37. Pure joy: GLEE.

38. '50s Red Scare gp.: HUAC.  House Un-American Activities Committee.

39. Souvlaki meat: LAMB.  Souvlaki is an ancient Greek word meaning skewer.  I think of kebabs.

40. Bad to the bone: EVIL.

44. __-Ball: midway game: SKEE.

45. Two-time Oscar winner Swank: HILARY.

46. Luau dances: HULAs.

47. Discharge: EMIT.

48. Spiny desert bloomers: CACTI.

49. "We're live!" studio sign: ON AIR.

50. Liam's "Schindler's List" role: OSKAR.

51. Marshy grasses: REEDs.

52. Cosmetician Lauder: ESTEE.

53. Like a chimney sweep: SOOTY.

57. Sit for a picture: POSE.   I wonder if she was part of the family ?  Or just happened to be sitting there ?

59. Cultural funding org.: NEA. National Endowment for the Arts. 

60. Beaver's output: DAM. "Gee, Wally..."

61. Altar vow: I DO. Thought I DOs were "Words between partners" in Greg Johnson's Saturday stumper. Nope, it was ANDS. 

62. Prom rental: TUX. Tennessee Tuxedo didn't need to rent a tux.  Here shown with his friend Chumley, who went on to stardom on Pawn Stars.

The grid:

Tuesday, Aug 21, 2018 Paul Coulter

"Headcases"

17. *Top dog: BIG CHEESE.  Bighead - I've heard it used most often by children.  A conceited person.  Cheesehead - Can be used affectionately or derogatorily to refer to a Wisconsinite or Packer-backer.

39. *Beef: RED MEAT. Redhead.  A ginger.  Hello Scotland and Ireland ! Rusty Staub was known as Le Grande Orange.  Also, in the trades, a brand of concrete anchors.  Meathead - A stupid person. Archie Bunker's nickname for son-in-law Michael Stivic.  Rusty was not a meathead.  He learned French after being traded to the Montreal Expos.

11. *Equestrian's path: HORSE TRAIL.  Horsehead.   The opposite end from a horse's ass.  Served with a guy from Horseheads, NY. Smart guy.  Hi Merlin ! Trailhead - That's where hiking, biking, horseback riding, off roading adventures and cattle drives start. 

28. *Undeliverable bit of mail: DEAD LETTER.  Deadhead. To prune the spent blooms from your flowers.  Also, driving your semi (tractor trailer) without a load.  Oh, and of course, a Grateful Dead fan.    Letterhead.  The heading or leading page of formal correspondence, usually containing company logo, name address etc.

62. Racer's advantage ... and what each part of the answers to starred clues can be: HEAD START.

Paul comes back to visit with today's puzzle.  Easier than last Friday's puzzle.  He has something for everyone, and every skill level !

Across:

1. Big butte: MESA.  Butte comes to us from French, meaning mound. Mesa comes from Spanish, meaning table.   Buttes are smaller than mesas. 

5. Michael of "Superbad": CERA.   This guy.  Superbad was a 2007 "coming of age" movie.  Not familiar with either.

 9. Timetable: Abbr.: SCHED.  ule.

14. Cartel acronym: OPEC. Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries

15. Gravy base: ROUX.  Fat and flour, and get creative from there.

16. Writing that isn't poetry: PROSE.

19. Surrounding glows: AURAE. Had auras at first until deep dish pizza mandated the e.

20. Chicken: SCARED. 

21. Prepares to serve, as melon: SLICES UP.  Gallagher used the Sledge-O-Matic.

23. Textbook division: UNIT.  A standard standard.

25. Stadium attendance counter, perhaps: STILE.  I know them as turnstiles.  Hey, that's why the perhaps is in the clue !

26. Fill with freight: LADE.  From Dutch and German laden.

29. Spam producer, for short: BOT.   A Spam Robot, or Spambot, or just plain Bot.

The other Spam producer, Hormel,  just sold one its two US processing plants that makes Spam.   The Fremont, Nebraska processing plant has been sold to a group of Minnesota and South Dakota farmers, dba Wholesale Farms, and has announced intentions to locate their execs and HQs there.  Husker Gary would know about this. 

31. Squabbles: SET TOs. 

34. Versatile blackjack cards: ACES.  Can be used as ones or elevens. 

35. Hibernation spot: LAIR.

37. Egg cream ingredient: SYRUP.  Now this was interesting to me.  I've never heard of an egg cream.  It's similar to a milkshake, and got its start in NYC, but is also well-known in Detroit and New Orleans. 

38. Former "Great American Baking Show" co-host Vardalos: NIA.  She of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" fame.  A lovely person.

41. Azores' ocean: Abbr.: ATL.  Or the Braves (Atlanta), on scoreboards.  In this case, it's the abbr. for Atlantic.

42. Build an extension on: ADD TO.  Husker Gary should expect to see a decrease in his property taxes after the new Costco plant gets built and execs for Whole Farms move into town and ADD TO the tax base.  I think that's how it's supposed to work.  The clue today is in the sense of a building addition.  We know that as an ell in crossword fill. 

44. Strong desires: YENS.

45. Verdi princess who sings "O patria mia": AIDA. Six years ago,  Verdi and Aida would have left me in the dark.  Now, thanks to hundreds of solves, I know this crossword staple.

46. Specks in the sea: ISLETS.  Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton had a # 1 hit song with Islands in the Stream.

48. __ room: play area: REC.

49. Mail opening in a door: SLOT.  Remember that scene from Home Alone where McCauley Culkin looked through the mail slot ?

50. Big name in stationery: EATON. 

54. Very brave: INTREPID.

57. South Florida city: NAPLES.  Too bad about the red tide. 

61. Away from the office: NOT IN.

64. Prepare to talk to a child, maybe: KNEEL.

65. Doing nothing: IDLE. 

66. Comparison words: IS TO.

67. "My bad": SORRY.  "No problem"

68. Show the way: LEAD.  Anyone remember the book, Jump Off the Cliff,  by Hugo Furst ?

69. Enjoy, as gum: CHEW.  Enjoy, as gossip: Chew the fat.

Down:

1. Black Friday crowds: MOBS.  Not once.  Never.   Wild horses.

2. Grand-scale tale or grand-scale fail: EPIC. 

3. Arcade name: SEGA. Tie in with  52A. "__ #1!": winners' cry: WE'RE.  SEGA had 213 arcade games;  Atari had 117.  

4. Builds up: ACCRUES.  the ability of something to accumulate over time, and is most commonly used when referring to the interest, income or expenses - Investopedia.

5. Trustworthy: CREDIBLE.  Investopedia is a credible financial dictionary.

6. Non-discrimination letters: EOE.  Equal Opportunity Employment (or Employer).

7. Former Wisconsin senator Feingold: RUSS.

8. Skating jumps: AXELS.  OK, now here is a really good article that explains each of the skating jumps, along with GIFs showing them being accomplished. 

9. Most ditzy: SPACIEST.  Goldie Hawn persona on Laugh-In

10. The "C" of SPCA: CRUELTY.  Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

12. Jacob's twin brother: ESAU.

13. __-dish pizza: DEEP.  Fold your laundry, not your pizza.

18. Farm squawker: HEN.

22. "Live from New York, __ 'Saturday Night!'": IT'S.    A nice collection:


24. Apple-polisher: TOADY.

26. Hawaiian island: LANAI.

27. Litmus reddeners: ACIDS.

30. Oven buzzer: TIMER.

32. Perform better than: OUTDO.

33. Wet impact sound: SPLAT.

36. Extend a subscription: RENEW. 

39. In a nasty manner: ROTTENLY.

40. Climbed: ASCENDED.  Ascend.  Middle English: from Latin ascendere, from ad- ‘to’ + scandere ‘to climb.’ 

43. Needing more tissues, probably: TEARIER.

45. Sterile: ASEPTIC.  "a" and "an" as prefixes to Greek base words means no, without, not having, free of, or not.   English adopted those as prefixes to many words that originated in other languages as well, with the same purpose.

Then we have  "a"  as a prefix from an Old English root, which meant on, toward, to, or into.  So we get words like ablaze (on) and asunder (to).

So aseptic and asocial mean free of septic and not social , and we have words like afire and ablaze, meaning on, and asea meaning....  Well, never mind, I'm going to stop before I go awry.  

47. Soak (up), as gravy: SOP.  

51. Nothing, in Latin: NIHIL.

53. Univ. dorm overseers: RAs.  Resident Advisor or Resident Assistant.

54. Calligraphy supplies: INKS.

55. Taboo: NO NO.


56. "__ Dinah": 1958 Frankie Avalon hit: DEDE.  No clue.  Thank you perps.

58. Eyelid hair: LASH.

59. One-named Deco artist: ERTE.  Romain de Tirtoff.    Better study the name and spelling.  It might come up in a crossword someday.

60. Stash in a hold: STOW.

via GIPHY

63. Pie __ mode: A LA.  Hot apple pie with cold vanilla ice cream melting on top is a favorite dessert in this household.

Friday, August 17, 2018, Paul Coulter

Title: Breaking out the creatures.

PC makes a rapid return with this very creative 'reorganize the word' theme. As an added bonus each separation results in a living being.  The themers are set out in a pinwheel pattern, with wonderful consistency, as 1, 3 and 5 have an animal appear with 2 and 4 revealing bugs. Really well done. This is not an easy solve, but if you remembered the people in AVATAR are called NA'VI the whole puzzle falls in place. We have had many puzzles where the reveal was dependent on reparsing a word, but I do not recall one like this one. The hard part, of course, is that the clue does not inform as to the fill directly. The fill is just the pieces that together make a real word. The challenge of the concept left little room for much long fill, but we do get AMASSES  ROSEATE ROUTINE SMOTHER and TRISECT.

17A. Alien reptile in "Avatar"?: NA'VI  GATOR.(9). NAVIGATOR. This word is derived from the identical Latin word Navigator. Na'vi came from the mind of James Cameron; I loved the MOVIE. You think Cameron was thinking about the Navy?

42A. Pest that's gotten into the cheese?: BRIE  FLY (7). BRIEFLY. Brie was named from where it was first made; briefly from the Latin BREVE, which also gave us brevity. 

68A. Long-eared mascot of an L.A. newspaper?: TIMES  HARE (9). TIMESHARE. I love this CSO to the publisher, though I doubt a rabbit is the mascot of the paper. Most have decided timeshare is a waste of money, but the business still thrives.

11D. Tiny insect that casts spells?: COVEN  ANT (8). COVENANT. They both derive from the Latin word "convenire", which is a contraction of "com venire" or "come together". The words convene (to come together at an appointed place and time) and convent (a home for nuns) also have the same root. various. I love the imagery of some ants getting together inside a pentagram. 

41D. One of a group of feline predators?: GANG  LION (8). GANGLION.  Another wonderful mental picture of lions wearing leather and tats hanging out by their hogs.  It all has nothing to do with a structure containing a number of nerve cell bodies, typically linked by synapses, and often forming a swelling on a nerve fiber. I have a ganglion cyst on my shoulder. Oo plays with it and considers it her 'toy.'

On that bizarre note on to the solving. 

Across:

1. Amendment dealing with states' rights: TENTH. "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." No politics.

6. Hobby shop buy: KIT. A CSO to former hobby shop impresario and longtime Corner fixture DENNIS.

9. Longtime Wall Street name: SACHS. Goldman Sachs is major and controversial diversified investment company which was led by founder Marcus Goldman and his son-in-law SAMUEL SACHS. No politics.

14. Spanish month: ENERO. January.

15. Draft pick: IPA. Not a sports clue, but draft beer and India Pale Ale.

16. Outfielder Mike who finished first (twice) or second (three times) in 2012-2016 A.L. MVP voting: TROUT. This excellent PLAYER is not related to one of my favorite Detroit Tiger players of the past Dizzy Trout.

19. Snake, e.g.: RIVER. This water often winds its way into a grid.

20. Racks up: AMASSES.

21. Corpulent: OBESE. Or perhaps - fat, overweight, plump, portly, stout, chubby, paunchy, beer-bellied, heavy, bulky, chunky, well upholstered, well padded, well covered, meaty, fleshy, rotund, broad in the beam, tubby, pudgy, beefy, porky, roly-poly, blubbery, corn-fed. Cruel or not?

23. Connecting point: NODE.

24. "Bad Moon Rising" band, initially: CCR. Credence Clearwater Revival.

                                       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BmEGm-mraE

26. First of a series: OPENER.

29. Small amount: TRACE. Made famous by CSI.

31. Worked the soil: HOED. Be careful there Mr. Imus.

33. Shopper stopper?: SALE.  Who doesn't love a good rhyming clue?

34. TV schedule abbr.: TBA. To Be Announced.

36. Buttonhole, say: SLIT.

38. Affirmative action: NOD. Cute.

39. Bit of horseplay: GAG. For three letters, this was tricky.

44. Castilian kin: TIO. Uncle. Spanish.

45. GP gp.: AMA. American Medical Association for General Practitioners.

46. Mex. miss: SRTA. Senorita. Spanish.

47. Jr. and sr.: YRS.

49. Brass component: ZINC. Brass is a metallic alloy that is made of copper and zinc.

51. Bit of swearing: OATH.

53. Slate et al., for short: EMAGS.

57. Merchant ship flotilla: ARGOSY. 1. a large merchant ship, esp. one with a rich cargo. 2. a fleet of such ships. 3. an opulent supply or collection. Not a word I use.

59. Ring bearer: EAR. Cute misdirection.

61. Baker: OVEN. More misdirection as it is, after all,  the oven that bakes it.

62. Sprite flavor: LEMON. I knew Paul liked some of my write-ups, and it is great to be in one of his puzzles - oh it wasn't for me?

64. Stage bit: ROUTINE.

66. North African site of a 1943 conference: CAIRO. An echo of last week's WWII conferences.

70. Stun: SHOCK.

71. "We've exceeded seating capacity" sign: SRO.

72. Gauge: METER.

73. Chief Justice after Marshall: TANEY. Two very influential jurists, and members of a very exclusive group. There have only been 17 CHIEF JUSTICES compared to 45 Presidents. No politics.

74. It's big in London: BEN. Clock humor.

75. Salad green: CRESS. We have this word going back to 2008 when C.C. did all the blogging. LINK.


Down:

1. Letter?: TENANT.  This is also cute but is not a real word, as it is the landlord who has an apartment to let-  "chiefly British: to offer or grant for rent or lease let rooms."

2. Captivate: ENAMOR. Derived from the French, AMOUR. Love.

3. Area 51 locale: NEVADA. The true STORY.  Or if you prefer...

4. Cut into three equal parts: TRISECT. BI = 2. TRI = 3.

5. Keeps to oneself: HOGS.

6. Lawn gnomes, e.g.: KITSCH. Not to be confused with brownies. Infra. Kitsch is considered to be in poor taste but appreciated in an ironic or knowing way.

7. Snapchat had one in Mar. 2017: IPO. Initial Public Offering. Stock offering, actually pioneered by Goldman and Sachs, I think.

8. Poi source: TARO. Do you think a Hawaiian dish made from the fermented root of the taro, which has been baked and pounded to a paste sounds yummy?

9. Antibiotic target: STREP. Streptococcus bacteria. A nasty little guy a threat not only to your throat.

10. Crops up: ARISES.

12. Peach, e.g.: HUE. Hey you, what your hue, Hugh?

13. Orch. section: STRings.

18. Old nuclear agcy.: AEC. We had this recently.

22. __ harm: BODILY.

25. Promising: ROSEATE. Picturing the world through rose-colored glasses.

27. Wells race: ELOI. Always nice to have an excuse to post a pic of Yvette Mimieuz.

28. Make over: REDO.

30. Drops off: EBBS. And flows.

32. Brownie, in folklore: ELF. This was unknown to me. The most well-known and loved house elf in folklore is the Scottish Brownie. A brownie or broonie, also known as a brùnaidh or gruagac. The Brownie is a small male creature, between one and two feet tall, who takes up residence in a deserving family's home and is helpful. They were the precursor to Alexa and other modern household helpers. Various sources.

35. Dry gulch: ARROYO.

37. Rubber in a boot?: TYRE. Boot being British for the trunk of a car where you keep your spare "tire."

39. __ Strip: GAZA. Gaza is a densely populated strip of land that is mostly surrounded by Israel and peopled almost exclusively by Palestinians. Israel used to have a military presence but withdrew unilaterally in 2005. Gaza was part of the Ottoman Empire before it was occupied by the United Kingdom (1918–1948), Egypt (1948–1967), and then Israel, which in 1994 granted the Palestinian Authority in Gaza limited self-governance through the Oslo Accords. Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has been de facto governed by Hamas, which claims to represent the Palestinian National Authority and the Palestinian people. Various sources. No politics.

40. "The Kite Runner" boy: AMIR. A very powerful and disturbing book and movie. A must watch, but no politics.

43. "Give __ rest!": IT A.

48. Overwhelm: SMOTHER.  A little daily double of mayhem, with...

50. Strong-arm: COERCE.

52. Mark of "NCIS": HARMON. When I first watched NCIS, initially it seemed like a mediocre cop show, as some have suggested. Now having watched all 15 seasons with Oo I see the skill of the writers who are putting forth a family drama, with all kinds of interesting twists and turns of personality.

54. Do the Wright thing?: AVIATE. I did not say it was not a real word, it just sounds funny to me. Now on the popular list.

55. Types: GENRES. I learned the word from watching movie reviewers.

56. Nasty smiles: SNEERS. Snidley Whiplash had my favorite sneer.

58. Idaho's __ Mountains: SMOKY. This chain is part of the Rocky Mountains and not to be confused with the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee.

Idaho                      Tennessee
↞                            ↠






60. Fluke-to-be: ROE. Roe is fish eggs, and Fluke is a fish.
All Fluke Are Flounder but Not All Flounder Are Fluke. Generally speaking, left-side up flounder are flukes, and right-side up flounders are called flounders.  That sounds easy enough to remember, but it gets worse.  Flukes are also called “summer flounder,” and flounder, or right-side fish, are called “winter flounder.”

63. Black-box analyzers: Abbr.: NTSB. National Transportation Safety Board.

65D. Camp Pendleton letters: USMC. United States Marine Corps.

66. K.C. hours: CST. Central Standard Time.

67. "Caught you!": AHA. We all have our AHA moments here, as well as ones that inspire...

69. Rage: IRE.

I hope you have all put aside any anger in your lives and felt the joy of solving another fun but challenging puzzle from Paul. There was lots going on but in the end, we came to the end. Lemonade out.

Note from C.C.:

Here are two pictures of Lemonade's lovely granddaughters Charlotte and Harper. Lemonade said, "Charlotte is in real kindergarten" now. Click here for more.