Friday, January 24, 2020 Paul Coulter

"TURN DOWN SERVICE"


Let's go with the reveal first.

62. Hotel amenity, and a hint to three puzzle answers: TURN DOWN SERVICE.   At the end of three across answers, you have to read the intersecting down answer.   Very neat !

The theme entries:

16. (across) Blamed for personal advantage: THROWN UNDER THE B, with
18. (down) Clear: BUS.
THROWN UNDER THE BUS - Mark's clue nails it succinctly.    In business, politics, sports, personal relationships...  

31. (across) Punch with force, maybe: GIVE A FAT L, with
34. (down) Backtalk: LIP.
GIVE A FAT LIP - Nothing figurative here. 

44. (across) Chanoyu ceremony essential: JAPANESE T, with
46. (down) High __: TEA.
JAPANESE TEA. - This was hard for me because I didn't know what a Chanoyu ceremony was, but then looked at the other two theme answers and aha !   Changed my 46D from High def to TEA, and that also cleared up the stall where MOOLA belonged.

"The simple art of Chanoyu is really a synthesis of many Japanese arts with the focus of preparing and serving a bowl of tea with a pure heart." - Chanoyu   

You would think the genesis of this puzzle was the reveal TURN DOWN SERVICE, wouldn't you ?



Across:

1. Draft category: ONE A.   Actually, it's 1-A.

5. Crisply played, in mus.: STAC.   Music / Staccato.

9. Qatar's capital: DOHA.   Whatever happened to Doha Doc ?

13. Inflammation treatment: CORTISONE.   And 39. Ibuprofen brand: ADVIL.  Corticosteroids vs. NSAIDs

While we're on the subject, take the pain quiz.

15. Apple product: IPOD.

19. More mean: NASTIER.

20. Sci-fi helmsman: SULU.

21. Burdened: LADEN.

24. Portable chair: SEDAN.     Champagne glass: Coupe.

26. "Uno __": cantina request: MAS.    "One more" in Spanish.

27. Fundraising targets: ALUMNI.

29. Boar's mate: SOW.

35. Greatly beloved ones: GEMs.

38. He reunited with his fictional ex on Valentine's Day in 2011: KEN.   I assume with Barbie ?

41. Backboard attachment: RIM.

42. Place Sundance liked to see: ETTA.   Loved this clue / answer.  Etta Place

Life with the Sundance Kid

47. Kazakhstan, once: Abbr.: SSR.   Soviet Socialist Republic.

49. Waste time: DAWDLE.

50. __ store: APP.

53. Many an Indian: HINDU.

57. Green: MOOLA.   Both slang for money.

58. Game with two secret passages: CLUE.   No clue on this answer based on the clue alone.   Never played it; don't know much about it.    Didn't know there were secret passages.   But, with C from ACT, -. U from PULSE, and E from EYES, what else could it be ?   C-UE.

60. Advice: COUNSEL.   Advice, advise, counsel and council.    Simple nouns and verbs that can easily be confused.   Only one of the four works as both a noun AND a verb.   Which one ?

67. They can make you better, briefly: MEDs.   Medicines, like Aleve and Advil.

68. Basically: IN ESSENCE.

69. Annoyance: PEST.

70. Do, for example: NOTE.   Trickery.   The musical note.     '...Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, and Si are used to name notes the same way that the letters C, D, E, F, G, A, and B are used to name notes in English." - Wikipedia.

71. Cutty __: SARK.   The famous fast clipper sailing ship built in Scotland in 1869, now residing in dry dock at Greenwich, London as a museum ship.   Some fifty years after her construction, the Scotch whisky was created and named after her.    The ship was named for the short skirt worn by the witch in the Robert Burns poem Tam o' Shanter. 

Down:

1. Fall mo.: OCT. Month / October

2. Kabuki kin: NOH.

3. Give the wrong change, say: ERR.

4. Acts of reparation: ATONEMENTs.

5. IRS IDs: SSNs.   Internal Revenue Service / Social Security Numbers.

6. Talks up: TOUTs. Talks down: Calms.

7. Musical in which FDR is a character: ANNIE.  Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Here's the famous scene:

8. Gave up: CEDED.    Gave down: See 23(D).

9. Board mem.: DIR.   Member / Director.

10. Expresses a preference (for): OPTs.

11. Blah: HO-HUM. Meh.

12. "A Passage to India" heroine: ADELA.   Adela Quested - SparkNotes

14. "Lemme!": I WANNA.

17. Age relatives: ERAs.   A distinct period of history. eg, The Dinosaur Age or the Ice Age.   Thomas Paine wrote The Age of Reason.

21. Delay: LAG.

22. Not quite identical: ALIKE.   Like fraternal twins.

23. Comforter: DUVET.   What is the best down for a duvet ?   Hungarian goose down ?   Icelandic Eiderdown ?    Best Downs for a Good Night's Sleep

25. It's often served with nutmeg: NOG.   Here served in a coupe:

28. "... __ woodchuck could chuck wood?": IF A.   "Hey you dang woodchucks!   Quit chucking my wood !"    BTW, in the Geico Sequels run off, the Racoon commercials are comfortably ahead.

30. Subjects of European trials during the Renaissance: WEREWOLVES.

32. Wd. ending in -less: ADJ.   Adjective.   The part of speech.    This clue stumped me for way too long, and that was with AD- in place !   After finally getting enough letters to see JAPANESE at 44A, it became clear. D'OH !

33. FDR power plan: TVA. Franklin Delano Roosevelt / Tennessee Valley Authority.  The TVA at History.com 

36. Botch: MISDO.   Act wrongly.

37. Common sense?: SMELL.    Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense.  "The most important political tract of the Revolution was written not by a lawyer or university-educated philosopher, but by a former corset maker."

40. Bloke: LAD.

43. It may be tapped into a tray: ASH.

45. Parents, usually: NAMERs.

48. P.R. part: RICO.   Puerto Rico.

50. Appear: ACT.

51. Fluff, as pillows: PLUMP.   The history of fluff.

52. Blender button: PUREE.    The first button I pushed was pulse, but the blend(er) of crossing clues didn't agree.

54. Hopeless: NO WIN.

55. "Beats me!": DUNNO.

56. Up in the air: UNSET.    Not yet decided. 

59. Aims: ENDs.   Had eyes first.  Don't know why.

61. Zaire's Mobutu __ Seko: SESE.

63. It ends shortly after 1-Down: DST.   Daylight Savings Time

64. __ moment: IN A.

65. "Bad Moon Rising" band, briefly: CCR.    Creedence Clearwater Revival.


66. "A rat!": EEK.


Check your answers against this grid:

Sunday December 8, 2019 Paul Coulter

Theme:  "Pet Sitting" - CAT is placed on top of its usual spots.

 

19. Beats it: SCATS.

23. On easy street: IN THE LAP OF LUXURY.

32. Curtail: TRUNCATE.

40. Sedentary sort: COUCH POTATO.

51. Battery terminal: CATHODE.

55. Orchestra section leader: FIRST CHAIR.

77. Lively musical piece: TOCCATA.

84. Chart with branches: FAMILY TREE.

92. Pinpoint: LOCATE.

 97. Track foundation: RAILROAD BED.

113. Excoriate: SCATHE. Only familiar with "scathing".

115. Opposite of commends: CALLS ON THE CARPET.
 
Reveal:

114. One of six hidden in this puzzle, each sitting on an apt location: CAT.

Cute, right? All the CATs are fully embedded in another words. The place where each cat sits is a discrete word in a longer phrase.

Across:

1. Medical chart entry: AGE.

4. Author Janowitz: TAMA. One of the literary "brat pack".

8. Green eggs and ham promoter: SAM I AM.

14. USPS deliveries: LTRS.

18. Brown of jazz: LES.

21. Thorny shrub: ACACIA. Never saw one in person. Very pretty.

22. "That's not good": OH OH.

26. Beer buy: CASE.

27. Hall of Famers: GREATS. My all-time favorite. 

28. Put away: ATE.

29. Knife holder: SHEATH.

31. Demands: NEEDS.

37. "__ fair ... ": ALL'S.

38. My Chemical Romance 2-Down: EMO. 2. Category: GENRE.

44. They pick up things: SENSORS. Nice clue.

48. Mailed: SENT TO.

49. Get ready to eat?: RIPEN.

50. Muffin topping: OLEO.

53. Assure: PROMISE.

57. Response in court: PLEA.

59. Blues singer James: ETTA.

60. Tiny lab subjects: AMOEBAS.

61.  competitor: REO. Never heard of Maxwell automobile. Read more here. We also have 89. Former Fords: LTDS.

63. "If it's handcrafted, ... it's on __": ETSY. I've been eyeing a disc necklace there for a few months.

64. Designing initials: YSL.

65. Airline to Stockholm: SAS.

66. Most Dresden residents: GERMANS.

68. H.S. class: BIO.

71. Medical suffix: OMA. .And 74. Anatomical canal: ITER. We also had 93. Harem room: ODA.

76. Its "B" is sometimes turkey: BLT.

81. 1993 Literature Nobelist Morrison: TONI.

83. Brings home: NETS.

86. Chaotic but appealing person: HOT MESS. I learned this phrase from an article about Britney Spears ages ago.

88. Powerless motion?: GLIDING. Another great clue.

90. Boosts, e.g.: AIDS.

91. Sneak off to Vegas, maybe: ELOPE.

95. Part of a Shakespearean soothsayer's warning: THE IDES. Of March.

99. Parenthesis, essentially: ARC.

100. Film __: NOIR.

101. To begin with: AS A START.

105. Bridge positions: EASTS.

110. Repair, as sewn-together edges: RE-SEAM.

112. A in French: UNE.

114. Queens' __ Field: CITI.

121. Choir voice: ALTO.

122. Conservative foe, in the U.K.: LABOUR. Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, etc.

123. Suddenly paid attention: SAT UP.

124. "Yo te __": AMO.

125. Stereotypical angst sufferer: TEEN.

126. Wears slowly: ERODES.

127. High-tech workers: BOTS.

128. Gymnast's goal: TEN. Who's your favorite gymnast?

Down:

1. Adjust, as car wheels: ALIGN.

3. Cosmetician Lauder: ESTEE.

4. African menaces: TSETSES.

5. Orthopedic surgery targets, initially: ACLS.

6. Kid's cry: MAA. Farm kids.

7. For face value: AT PAR.

8. Longtime "The Avengers" comics artist Buscema: SAL. Learning moment for me.

9. Pressure lead-in: ACU.

10. Nth degree: MAX.

11. Post-OR area: ICU.

12. Affectations: AIRS.

13. Perchance, old-style: MAYHAP. Not familiar to me.

14. Hour in a pilot's announcement: LOCAL TIME.

15. Response to sad news: THAT'S A PITY. Very nice parallel long entries

16. Hebrew for "head": ROSH.

17. "__ Loves You": Beatles hit: SHE.

20. Annual Jan. speech, in Twitter hashtags: SOTU. State of the Union.

24. Ate: HAD.

25. Bog: FEN.

30. Ecuadoran gold region: EL ORO.

32. Holy scrolls: TORAHS.

33. Emailed a dupe to: CC'ED.

34. Bang-up: A-ONE.

35. "For shame!": TUT.

36. Outer: Pref.: ECT.

39. Deerskin attire: MOCCASINS.

41. Aspirations: HOPES.

42. Proficiency determiners: TESTS.

43. 1992-'93 NBA Rookie of the Year: O'NEAL. Shaq.

44. Slight, as a chance: SLIM.

45. Architect Saarinen: EERO.

46. Attendance count: NOSES.

47. Penn, e.g.: Abbr.: STA.

48. Aching to a larger degree: SORER.

50. Birds-feather link: OF A.

52. Staff builders: HIRERS.

54. Dancer who played a scarecrow: RAY BOLGER. "The Wizard of Oz".

56. Not yet on the sched.: TBA.

57. Quintet: PENTAD. 70. Group of eight: OCTAD.

58. Capt.'s inferiors: LTS.

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

66. Acquire: GET.

67. 1966 Michael Caine title role: ALFIE.

69. Aloof: ICY.

71. Wise start?: OTHER. Otherwise.

72. Loot: MOOLA.

73. 2006 Dunst title role: ANTOINETTE.

75. Big name in electric cars: TESLA.

77. Soldier's helmet: TIN HAT.

78. R&B vocalist India.__: ARIE.

79. "Bill & __ Excellent Adventure": TED'S.

80. '50s political initials: AES. Adlai Ewing Stevenson.

82. Self-destruction: IMPLOSION.

85. Charles River sch.: MIT.

87. Like TV's "Supernatural," e.g.: EERIE.

88. Mother of the Titans: GAEA.

94. "60 Minutes" network: CBS.

96. Antarctic features: ICECAPS.

98. Expert in futures?: ORACLE.

102. 252 wine gallons: TUN.

103. Unwanted workers: ANTS.

104. Detox program: REHAB.

106. Berne's river: AAR.

107. Fifth-century bishop in Ireland, familiarly: ST PAT.

108. Most crosswords have one: THEME. Except those low-word count Saturdays.

109. Determined about: SETON.

110. Upset and then some: RILE.

111. Photographer Dora who had a relationship with Picasso: MAAR.

113. Cottontail's tail: SCUT.

116. Certain corp. takeover: LBO.

117. Airport near Tel Aviv: LOD.

118. Go after, in a way: SUE.

119. Surg. sites: ORS.

120. Ike's WWII arena: ETO.

Happy birthday to our cool Jazzbumpa (Ron), who's having a very busy month. He'll be back to guide us next month.

C.C.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019 Paul Coulter

Top O' the Morning!  The word Day "opens" up a new phrase when added it proceeds the each word of the theme answer.

17-Across. Classroom text: SCHOOL BOOK.  Day School and Day Book.

28-Across. Twinkling in the night sky: STAR LIGHT.  Daystar, also known as the planet Venus,  and Day Light.

39-Across. Relief from the daily grind: TIME OFF.  Day Time and Day Off.

48-Across. Office spot with a coffee pot: BREAK ROOM.  Day Break and Day Room.

And the unifier:

63-Across. Start of a sports season, and what each half of 17-, 28-, 39- and 48-Across can have: OPENING DAY.

Across:

1. Barbecue glowers: COALS.

6. Priestly robes: ALBS.  The word ALB comes from the Latin, Albus, which means White.  //  Not to be confused with 10-Across: Cobbler's Tools: AWLS.

Priestly ALB

Cobblers' AWLS.

14. Neighborhood map on a city map, e.g.: INSET.

Inset with an Inset

15. Java neighbor: BALI.  Java and Bali are two islands of Indonesia.

16. Former Iranian ruler: SHAH.  The last SHAH of Iran was Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (Oct. 26, 1919 ~ July 27, 1980).  He was deposed in the Iranian Revolution in February 1979.  The word SHAH comes from an old Persian word meaning King.  This coming Saturday will mark the 100th anniversary of his birth.

19. Deep sleep: COMA.  Also the title of Robin Cook's first medical thriller.

20. Represent: DENOTE.

This scale begins and ends with a D-Note.

21. Like a bike: WHEELED.

23. Goes on to say: ADDS.

24. Summer on the Riviera: ÉTÉ.  Today's French Lesson.

25. MLB Network analyst Martinez: PEDRO.  Pedro Jaime Martinez (b. Oct. 25, 1971) is a Dominican professional baseball player who had a long career in Major League Baseball.  He played for the Boston Red Sox from 1998 until 2004.  He also played for 4 other teams.  This Friday will be his 48th birthday.

34. On bed rest, say: LAID UP.

36. Lupino of "High Sierra": IDA.  Ida Lupino (Feb. 4, 1918 ~ Aug. 3, 1995) makes frequent guest appearances in the crossword puzzles.  I learned of her from doing the crossword puzzles.  In addition to being an actress, she was also directed films.

37. Bird's crop: CRAW.

38. Colorado native: UTE.  A crossword staple.

42. "__ Am": Alicia Keys album: AS I.
 

43. Screen material: MESH.  I was thinking of a movie screen, not a screen on a door or a window to keep the bugs out.

45. Sinus doc: ENT.  As in an Ear Nose and Throat Doctor.  These doctors make frequent appearances in the puzzles too.

46. Growing weary: TIRING.

51. Landlord's income: RENTS.

52. Tell tall tales: LIE.

53. Field of study: AREA.

55. Pays some of: DEFRAYS.

59. Closed in on: NEARED.

62. Cut __: dance, in old slang: A RUG.

66. Hightail it: FLEE.

67. Trait carrier: GENE.

68. Mozart's "Così fan __": TUTTE.  With foreign subtitles for your reading pleasure.

69. Spill the beans: TELL.

70. Taiwanese PC maker: ACER.  I learned about this PC from doing the crossword puzzles.

71. Most common roll of two dice: SEVEN.

Down:

1. Prefix with gender: CIS-. As in Cisgender, which is the opposite of Transgender.  Cisgender is the term for people whose gender identity matches the sex that they were assigned at birth.

2. How software was once sold: ON CD.

3. Queens tennis stadium: ASHE.  The stadium is named for tennis great Arthur Ashe (July 10, 1943 ~ Feb. 6, 1993).  He won 3 Grand Slam Titles.  He retired from tennis in 1980.  He was older than 23 when he retired.

4. Johnny's "The Big Bang Theory" role: LEONARD.  I never watched this show, so needed perps to help with the name.

5. Was conspicuous: STOOD OUT.

6. Convent leader: ABBESS.   A famous movie Abbess.

7. Language of Southeast Asia: LAO.

8. Hard punch: BLOW.

9. Many a Punjabi: SIKH.  Sikhism is a monotheistic religion that originated in the Punjab region of India during the 15th Century.

10. One leading a Spartan lifestyle: ASCETIC.

11. Healthy bread type: WHOLE GRAIN.  I initially tried Whole Wheat.

12. Like a weak excuse: LAME.

13. Roe source: SHAD.

18. Inc., in the U.K.: LTD.

22. Slender aquarium swimmer: EEL.

25. __ bob: vertical measuring tool: PLUMB.  A Plumb Bob is a weight with a pointed end suspended from a string.  It is used for a vertical line reference, known as a plumb line.

26. Diner: EATER.  Also the name of a 1982 movie.

27. Gas at a truck stop: DIESEL FUEL.

29. Connect with: TIE TO.

30. Big deal: ADO.

31. Whitewater ride: RAFT.  I have never had a desire to go Whitewater Rafting.

32. "Who __?!": "Join the club!": HASN'T.

33. Small sticks: TWIGS.  The Water Institute of the Gulf is sometimes referred to as TWIG.

35. Jetty: PIER.

40. 6, on a cellphone keypad: MNO.

41. Insects with a painful sting: FIRE ANTS.  You don't want to step on a fire ant hill!  They are called fire ants for a reason!

44. Stylist's supply: HAIR GEL.

47. Debate again: RE-ARGUE.

49. Hawaii's Mauna __: KEA.  Mauna Kea, which makes frequent guest appearances in the crosswords, is a dormant volcano on the Island of Hawaii.  It is also the highest point in the State of Hawaii.  There is an observatory on the summit of the volcano.

50. Style: MANNER.

54. Camping gear brand: REI.  I am not familiar with this company.

55. Inane: DAFT.

56. Mystery writer Gardner: ERLE.  Erle Stanley Gardner (July 17, 1880 ~ Mar. 11, 1970) was an attorney, but he got bored in the courtroom and began writing legal thrillers.   He is best known for creating Perry Mason.

57. Tranquil exercise: YOGA.  It's harder than you might think.

58. On __: without a contract: SPEC.

60. 1999 Ron Howard film: ED TV.

61. Go out with: DATE.

64. WSW's opposite: ENE.  East-NorthEast is the opposite direction of West-SouthWest.

65. Japanese money: YEN.

Here's the Grid:

QOD:  Lazy people tend not to take chances, but express themselves by tearing down other’s work.  ~  Ann Rule (née Ann Rae Stackhouse; Oct. 22, 1931 ~ July 26, 2015, American crime writer