Friday, December 22, 2017, Paul Cuerdon

Title: Coming and Going

We have a palindrome puzzle presented by a constructor who had his debut puzzle here on a Friday in 2010 and was one of my first Friday blogs. LINK.  In researching past puzzles, I see 4 or 5 earlier such puzzles, including the use of two of the palindromes, but they are all clued very differently. Also. EGAD NO BONDAGE is all Paul and my favorite. For CED and others, WAS IT A CAT I SAW? is also new. I really enjoyed the cluing of the theme answers, as Paul showed wit and timeliness. We also have the fresh IN A BOX, DEVIANT and IT'S LATE. I await the verdict from the Corner jury.

17A. "The terrible tsar has arrived," either way? : TIS IVAN ON A VISIT (15). Ivan the terrible stops by.

27A. Disappointed reaction to the censored version of "Fifty Shades of Grey," either way? : EGAD NO BONDAGE (13). Very whimsical and a still modern phrase.

48A. Query about the Cheshire's grin, either way? : WAS IT A CAT I SAW? (14). Seeing only the teeth could inspire that question.

63. Mrs. Claus' remark about what she did to keep Santa home, either way? : TOO BAD I HID A BOOT.Would he ride without his signature black boots?

On to the rest...

Across:

1. Plodded (through) : WADED. I am never happy when 1 across does not fill immediately. I am not thrilled with definition, but what do I know.

6. Dies down: EBBS. More trickery but this did not fool me.

10. Not quite shut: AJAR. Of course, it is not a door.

14. Where something can be set for later: ASIDE. I like this one.

15. Protected at sea: ALEE.

16. Queen of Heaven: HERA. Hera is married to her brother Zeus and is titled as the Queen of Heaven. One of her characteristics is her jealous and vengeful nature against Zeus's other lovers and offspring and against the mortals who cross her. For more WIKI click.

20. Gambit: TACTIC. A gimme for any chess players in our readership.

21. __ Field: NYC stadium: CITI.  Where the Mets play in QUEENS. 

22. QB Peyton Manning has an NFL passing record 539 of them: TDS. Touchdowns.

23. "I could __ horse!" : EAT A. But why?

25. "Sommersby" actor: GERE. Richard. A very odd MOVIE. (2:00)

32. Amused initialism: LOL. Laugh Out Loud.

33. Clumsy boats: TUBS. Number 6 on the dictionary.com definition list. 6. Nautical. an old, slow, or clumsy vessel.

34. Sweethearts: LOVES.

37. Eponymous virologist: SALK.  Love the word EPONYMOUS; anyway- polio and the vaccine were important in my childhood, First my grandfather had contracted polio as a child, and as a cure they dug a hole and buried his affected leg to keep it from twisting, Second, my uncle was the county health officer and my brothers and I were used as test subjects.

39. Part of NAFTA: TRADE. North American Free Trade Agreement

42. 39-Across, perhaps: SELL.

43. Hawaiian greeting: ALOHA.

45. "The Americans" actress Russell: KERI.      LINK.

 
47. Magic org.? : NBA. Correct twice, Orlando and Johnson.

52. Chipmaker's prefix: NANO. Personally, I like YOCTO better.

53. A, in many orgs. : ASSN.

54. "__ who?!" : SEZ?

57. DEA agent: NARC.

59. Slip away: ELAPSE.

66. __ Domini: ANNO. A bit unnerving to see these two words both meaning YEAR next to each other in the grid. Latin/Italian

67. Calendario units: ANOS. Spanish/Portuguese.

68. Springsteen's "Born __": TO RUN.

69. Tuts: TSKS. Tut, tut- tsk, tsk

70. Wail: YOWL. We had an owl fall down our chimney one winter. Luckily the grate was up. Our long-haired dachshund was convinced it was meant to be her friend. The both yowled alot.

71. __ innings: EXTRA.

Down:

1. Measure of power: WATT. This too did not jump to mind, so it was a slow start.

2. Tibet's place: ASIA. A gimme.

3. __ jockey: DISC. Many predicted this profession would be gone by now.

4. Polished words: EDITED. He was looking for the verb, not the adjective.

5. Nowhere near the norm: DEVIANT. Harsh.

6. Ending with Tyrol: EAN. Very straightforward clue/fill for a Friday.

7. Common-interest group: BLOC.

8. Harmless: BENIGN. Bingo is back and one of our favorite calls- B9.

9. Ready for the curtain to open: SEATED.

10. Sushi tuna: AHI.

11. Kid: JEST.

12. Moistureless: ARID. Despite its frequent appearance as fill, ARID has never been clued this way in the LAT.

13. Traitors: RATS. Not really that simple.

18. Rebel, in a way: ACT OUT. Right next to traitors.

19. Like some memes: VIRAL.Does everyone know what a meme is?

24. ERA or RBI: ABBR. Tricky, as it seemed like a baseball clue.

26. Coaches' headaches: EGOS.

27. Big cat of film: ELSA. She is back and Frozen takes a back seat. I finally watched the entire movie (a favorite of my granddaughters) and I enjoyed it.

28. Certain score: GOAL.

29. Give the okay: ALLOW.

30. City near Kobe: OSAKA. Okay, we leave Europe for Japan.

31. Roulette bets: EVENS.

35. Actor Idris _ _: ELBA. Interesting choice to avoid ABLE WAS I. Perhaps an intentional extra hint?

36. Sandwich side: SLAW. I make a mean cole slaw.

38. Medieval Tatar chief: KHAN. Was this where the Han came to Geroge? LINK.

40. Ten up front? : DECA. A prefix meaning ten from Latin.

41. Undid: ERASED.

44. Pose in yoga: ASANA. Not one, but all of them.

46. Words just before leaving: IT'S LATE. Get me out of here!!!!

49. How Rome wasn't built? : IN A DAY. Cute. Nor was...

50. Piemonte city: TORINO. The first car I drove regularly was my Uncle's Torino station wagon. It had the fake wood panels.

51. Ready to be shipped: IN A BOX. Rather timely considering the holiday.

54. ERA or RBI: STAT. A baseball clue fake out.

55. An eternity: EONS.

56. Pass (out): ZONK.

58. Food on the trail: CHOW.

60. Wine named for an Iberian city: PORT. Where hopefully the wine is not made from...

61. __ grapes: SOUR.

62. Sicilian mountain: ETNA. So much Europe in this puzzle.

64. Derek and Peep: BOS.  Bo Derek and Little Bo Peep, interesting couple.

65. U.K. component: ISLand.  I think this is a great explanation, but I defer to Steve (Nice Cuppa if he stops by) and others. LINK.

Is that some Jingle Bells I hear in the distance? Good luck finishing your Xmas shopping if you haven't. I celebrated 3 years married to Oo yesterday and the beginning of winter. Hope you enjoyed the puzzle Thanks and welcome back Paul C. 2. Lemonade out.

Wednesday, June 26th 2013, Paul Cuerdon

Theme: Sigmund is Psycho (analytical) and the reveal helps us identify some "mouthy" phrases

20A Liar's trait? : FORKED TONGUE. I went to Google a nice pic for this and amongst the first that came up was one of George W. Bush, one of yesterday's pair of Texas P'sOTUS. I've no idea why this should be so.

34A. Cold-sounding windup toy : CHATTERING TEETH. Mine aren't chattering today, I'm in Washington D.C. at 96F and what feels like 200% humidity.

40A. Warning to a sassy kid : DON'T GIVE ME NO LIP. Sassy kid might respond "Don't give me no bad grammar".

and the unifier:

51A. Freud's diagnosis of 20-, 34- and 40-Across? : ORAL FIXATION. Is that why he's smoking a cigar?

Happy Wednesday everyone - Steve here with a nice mid-week outing from Paul. I dove right in, and it seemed plain sailing until I got stalled in the middle and then in the south. I thought IDLE HANDS was part of the theme until I couldn't see how LOVE SCENE fitted with anything else, so that slowed me down for a while. Let's see what else we have.

Across:

1. Louis or P.W., the first and last South African prime ministers : BOTHA. I knew this right away, but then pondered why P.W. was the last, until I realized post-apartheid South Africa has a president, not a prime minister.

6. Disney World vehicle : TRAM

10. Avoid : SHUN

14. Common font : ARIAL. If the personal computer has done anything, it's made us all font experts. Two decades ago most of us would have been hard-pressed to name anything beyond Times New Roman or Helvetica.

15. Reprobate : ROUE.

16. Vigilant : WARY

17. Diamond game with no pitching : T-BALL. The first and only time my daughter played T-ball she was so proud of her new glove that she forgot to watch the ball and got a line drive straight in her "theme". A split lip, floods of tears and she never played again. I wonder what happened to the glove?

18. Devil's tools, proverbially : IDLE HANDS.

22. Dieter's shortening? : CAL. Slimmed-down calories. Nice.

25. Old cry of disapproval : FIE

26. "... her kerchief and __ my cap ..." : I IN. Ma was in her kerchief on the night before Christmas.

27. Response to a pointer : I SEE IT

29. Pesters for payment : DUNS. You wouldn't be pestered if you weren't late, let's be fair.

31. __ in Juliet : JAS. I'd  love to explain this one to you, but it was all perps for me and I have no idea what this is all about. Any offers?

37. Razor name : ATRA

38. RN's assignment : ICU. I worked in a hospital for a while when I left high school and was often assigned to mop the floors of the Intensive Care Unit. The Registered Nurses had rather more lofty responsibilities.

39. Kett of old funnies : ETTA

45. Quiz response: Abbr. : ANS

46. "Sorry to say ..." : ALAS

47. Setting : LOCALE

48. CIO partner : AFL. I was wondering who partner's the Chief Information Officer when the labor union penny dropped.

49. Rummy : SOT

50. Hot air : GAS

57. Feature of many a romantic comedy : LOVE SCENE. This one from "Ghost" has me weeping every time I see it.

58. High-minded : NOBLE

62. Church attachment? : GOER. I liked this one!

63. Embroidered ltr. : INIT. I need a stack of handkerchiefs when I watch "Ghost", but none of them have my initials embroidered on them.

64. Words to live by : CREED. As practiced by church attachments.

65. High style : AFRO

66. Highland caps : TAMS

67. Expels : EMITS

Down:

1. Ball club : BAT. Great little clue/answer.

2. Celestial body : ORB

3. Acapulco aunt : TIA

4. __ Moon Bay, California : HALF.  One of the biggest surf breaks in the world is just north of the town. Scary stuff.

5. The whole enchilada : ALL OF IT

6. First wheels : TRIKE

7. Was carried by, as a bus : RODE

8. New Year's word : AULD. "Auld Reekie" is a nickname for Edinburgh, pretty much the only other time I've heard the word used.

9. One may be called by a manager : MEETING

10. Hall of Famer Lynn of the Steelers : SWANN

11. Consort (with) : HANG

12. Karachi language : URDU

13. Where "X" means "U.S. Steel" : NYSE. I never knew this, and a great way to clue the abbreviated New York Stock Exchange.

19. Run up the flagpole : HOIST

21. Sacrament : RITE

22. Loud bug : CICADA They are loud, but somehow very soothing when it's all you can hear on a warm tropical night.

23. Actor Kutcher : ASHTON. I didn't put Demi Moore's picture on here to annoy him, I promise.

24. Catches on : LEARNS

28. One of America's cinquante : ETAT. Nicely obtuse, but difficult for non-francophones to know that we're talking about the fifty states.

29. Chops up : DICES

30. One on a one? : UNUM. Perps again, and no adequate explanation from me. Any ideas?

31. International traveler's concern : JET LAG. Happens with coast-to-coast trips too. I had a good travel day today though - I'm now on the TSA "pre screened" list so I got to zip through security without getting undressed and my laptop and deodorant stayed in the bag; then United upgraded me and finally Avis ran out of little cars and gave me a Mustang Convertible instead. I've had worse trips!

32. Hun ruler : ATTILA

33. Molds : SHAPES

35. 1972 Derby winner __ Ridge : RIVA

36. Fair-hiring initials : EEOC. More perps. I couldn't recall the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

41. Fishing hooks : GAFFS. Big, big hooks on a long pole.

42. Under-the-table : ILLICIT

43. "The Time Machine" people : ELOI. I always want to put "ELON" when I see this clue. Which I did today, of course.

44. Never ever : NOT ONCE

48. '90s-'00s Olds model : ALERO

49. Cancels a takeout order? : STETS. Great. Best clue of the day, IMHO.

51. Lingerie brand : OLGA. Perps!

52. Spot for shingles : ROOF. I filled in BACK first before it had to come out. Flashbacks to my hospital worker days maybe.

53. Claim : AVER

54. TV friend of Gabrielle : XENA

55. Lively, in mus. : ANIM. From the Italian "animato", animated.

56. "Cheers" cheer : NORM. I saw George Wendt in my local bar a few weeks ago, and it was all I could do to stop myself "Norm!"-ing. It really must get old.

59. "__ Mir Bist Du Schoen": Andrews Sisters hit : BEI. Better late then never for a little musical interlude

60. Court do-over : LET

61. Masthead VIPs : EDS. Sadly, their are fewer and fewer newspapers for editors to get their name on the masthead today.

That's about does it for me; time to see if I can avoid any 31D problems. Have a great day!

Steve

Note from C.C.:

Happy 48th wedding anniversary to dear Spitzboov (Al) and his lovely wife Betty!

 US Coast Guard Academy, New London, CT,
 August 2012

Please click here and  here to see more pictures of them (and our Naples Corner crowd).

Friday December 17, 2010 Paul Cuerdon

Theme: Take your CUe from Paul - The letters CU, which are the atomic symbol for Copper, text speak for See You, and the first two letters of constructor Paul’s last name, are added to one word of a common two word expression to convey a different but witty new phrase. There is some symmetry with the first and last CU added to the second word, and the CU added to the first word in the middle two.

18A. Raised to the ninth power?: DOUBLE CUBED. Your DOUBLE BED becomes a mathematics riddle, a cube cubed is 3 x 3 = 9.

24A. Poison literature? : CURARE BOOKS. Our RARE BOOKS dealer is closing after 40 years in Fort Lauderdale. I like the idea of the poison pen implication.

50A. Most adorable flier?: CUTEST PILOT. I wonder what John Glenn thinks of this? We are nearing the 50th anniversary of the first humans to orbit the earth, Yuri Gagarin in April and Alan Shepard in May.

55A. Original Anglican assistant priest?: FIRST CURATE. A CURATE is a clergy who assists the rector or vicar, particularly in the English Church. It comes from the same stem as “cure” and “curator,” Medieval Latin cūrātus, from cūra: spiritual oversight. Was this a First Rate Clue?

47D. Element whose chemical symbol is used in this puzzle's theme: COPPER. Did this help anyone?

I do not know Mr. Cureton (if that is a real person) and find it either brilliant or troubling that the first two letters of his name are the key to the theme. I found most of the fill very straightforward, so the theme jumped out at me when I had CURARE BOOKS, though the start with AZTEC and BEIRUT was not an encouraging beginning.

Lemonade here, ready to lead you to the promised land of a finished Friday.

Across:

1. Iron pumper's pride: ABS. Not to niggle, but the pumpers care about their pecs and lats and bis and tris; abs are for everyone. Needless to say, this was my slow period.

4. Some macaroni: ELBOWS. Okay, I was at the store today, and almost bought ELBOWS, opting instead for tri-color rotini. Now I am cooking.

10. Fosbury's high-jumping technique: FLOP. What? I just had this Dick (Fosbury) in a puzzle I blogged; you saw the link, so I will not repeat myself.

14. Zuider __: ZEE. One of my favorites from childhood, the sound of these Dutch words just pleased my ear. The ZUIDER ZEE (South Sea) was an inlet off the North Sea, where oil is now being drilled. The Dutch dammed the sea so it no longer exists.

15. One who may need technical terms explained: LAYMAN. When a doctor uses the phrase, “Let me put this to you in layman’s terms“ it is not a good sign. But, it also has religious meaning, like 4D. Respected one: ELDER. Also, a church term, for a layman who participates in services etc.

16. Like much early TV: LIVE. Oh for the fun of it all. Sid Caesar, George Burns, Milton Berle….

17. Element in pewter: TIN. Which is why they share the gray color.

20. Weather, in a way: ERODE. I understand this but it was not the first to come to mind. I would have gotten weathered and eroded more easily.

22. Little bit: TAD. Little bit made me think of these two, who just opened on BROADWAY .

23. Washday brand: ERA. Whatever happened to the Equal Rights Amendment?

28. "Bad" cholesterol letters: LDL. Low Density, as opposed to good, High Density Lipo proteins.

29. "__ tuned!": STAY. Right next to one of my favorite silly British comedians: 30. Hill on British TV: BENNY. Who does not get in a better mood when listening to his theme Yakity Sax by Boots Randolph, or his silly SKITS .

31. Total amount bet: POOL. This comes from horse racing where the wagering pool determines the final odds and payouts.

32. See 44-Across: GABLES. 44A. With 32-Across, feature of a noted New England home: SEVEN. This novel was Hawthorne’s follow up to The Scarlett Letter and is based on a real house still in SALEM which Hawthorne visited often as it was owned by a cousin. There is speculation he wrote the book out of sadness for his ancestors’ part in the killing of the Salem “witches.” Interestingly, Patricia Cornwell, has set much of her latest Scarpetta novel Port Mortuary in Salem.

34. Do some gardening: PRUNE. I grew up learning gardening from my father, who grew roses, peonies and had many flowering bushes and trees, so we were forever PRUNING which is a bit harder than it looks. Not to be confused with making plums into prunes, or having your fingers wrinkle in the pool.

35. They may be noble or precious: METALS. All you need to KNOW about the difference.

38. Waited: PAUSED.

39. Skill determinants: EXAMS. Personally, I think they measure skill at taking tests.

40. Madagascar mammals: LEMURS. . Did you watch any of the MOVIES ?

43. Learning method: ROTE. My favorite was KYLE ROTE who like another SMU star, Don Meridith, died this year. His son, Kyle, Jr., eschewed football, to become a soccer star (football?).

45. Alveoli, e.g.: SACS. The tiney air sacs in your lungs.

49. Monitor, for short: CRT. Cathode Ray Tube. Being phased out by plasma, LCD and LED. 64A. Watch displays, briefly: LEDS. LEDs--Light Emitting Diodes, were first made famous in the watch worn by James Bond in the ‘70s. They are not to be confused with LCDs-Liquid Crystal Display, though they both use liquid gel.

52. Eldridge Cleaver's "Soul on __": ICE. I read this in college, a very interesting book.

53. More than plan: ACT. Like Nike says, just do it!

54. Hoarse: RASPY. Anyone want to hear my hoarse joke again? Damn, no reason to get nasty!

60. Spring mo.: APR. Bring May showers…

61. Manual reader: USER. Not in my family; we have not met a manual that inspired anyone to read yet.

62. Dome opening, in architecture: OCULUS. At first, I was confused by the extra CU, and since I am not familiar with this TERM but figured this was a shout out to me, since it means EYE in Latin. Always amazed how Rich know which puzzles I blog.

63. Corp. bigwig: CEO.

65. Prepares for the next turn in the alley: RESETS. The first of mini-sports corner, a shout out to bowling. Then baseball, 21D. Any Wrigley Field contest until 1988: DAY GAME. Golf: 34D. Hole number?: PAR. Football, 38D. Football play: PUNT. And, weight lifting: 51D. Lift in a gym: PRESS. Like a bench, or military press. I use dumbbells now.

66. Directional ending: ERN. Eastern, western etc.

Down:

1. Tlaxcalteca enemies: AZTECS. Had no idea, but when letters finally came, it looked like it belonged with “teca.”

2. Cedar Revolution city: BEIRUT. Not all familiar with the NAME though I was aware of the struggle against Syria, as I had friend from Lebanon. memories, a nice Jewish boy and a girl from Lebanon; my great aunt married a man from there, and father would always ask him what is was like to be a Lesbian. Our family gatherings were always fun.

3. Lady of Spain: SENORA. Our Spanish lessons revisited. And our tricky Spanish, 42D. Mayo, e.g.: MES. Mayo, the month of May, Mes. Month in Spanish.

5. Film doctor with 7 faces: LAO. A wonderful movie with TONY RANDALL .

6. LDS-owned school: BYU. Latter day Saints, or better known as Mormons.

7. Fed. number-crunching gp.: OMB. Office of Management and Budget.

8. '70s-'80s TV family: WALTONS. A very successful family series based on a book and movie that ran during the ‘70s also.

9. Deceitful: SNEAKY.

10. Word after blue or bird: FLU. Blue Flu being the term used to describe work absences by police,, who are forbidden to strike for pay raises, but who developed flu symptoms to not work and force the cities to pay them more.

11. Defamatory: LIBELOUS. I am beginning to think there really is a conspiracy, since we have this again, and last time I was accused of giving legal advice by defining the term; you are all on your own.

12. Cooked really well?: OVERDONE. Like THIS ?

13. Biked, in Bristol: PEDALLED. Ah ha, Bristol England, not the one in Connecticut where ESPN was born, because the British use two “L”s where we Americans think one will do. Travelled etc.

19. S&L offerings: CDS. Certificates of Deposit, not Compact Discs.

25. Falls back: EBBS. and flows; you all still with me?

26. __ Air: Los Angeles community: BEL. And a great Chevy in the ‘50s.

27. It's next to nothing: ONE. Well a tricky clue, I like it.

31. Frederick the Great's realm: PRUSSIA. I always had trouble with the geography and politics of Germany and Russia and this Kingdom which annexed 46D.French border region: ALSACE. Along with LORRAINE, one of the French provinces which was part of the Franco-Prussian War.

33. Gore and Franken: ALS. To democrat liberals are we. The poor girl on Jeopardy did not know George H. W. Bush called Gore the Ozone man.

35. Forgiving: MERCIFUL. Which sits perfectly with 36D. Deal with, as demons: EXORCISE.Certainly a merciful act.

37. Ragged: TATTERED.

40. Romaine, e.g.: LETTUCE. Why are there now choices of 17 different lettuces? And that is only at McDonalds!

41. Anticipatory time: EVE. Erev in Hebrew, and a perfect clue with the 24th fast approaching.

44. Aid: SUCCOR. Another English word directly from Latin.

48. "Sophie's Choice" author: STYRON. A powerful novel, with the movie heralded as Meryl Streep’s best acting performance, for which she won an Oscar. Not a happy film.

50. Jazz lover: CAT. Hep Cat, Cool Cat.

56. Most coll. applicants: SRS. Seniors in high School

57. Toys __: R US. Gee, it isn’t backwards.

58. Samuel Adams Summer __: ALE. Oh, and we finish with the shout out to my craft brewing, beer swilling children who are headed home for the holiday. Love you boys. Thanks Paul. Sam Adams is the first American micro-brewery to become macro, and the beer is not bad.

59. Boy king: TUT. Well, my grandmother used to look at me and go, Tut, Tut all the time, so I guess it time for me to go.

Answer grid.

A reasonable Friday, mostly easier, but lots of new stuff. Thank you for welcoming me into your homes, I like many of the new avatars and the new voices, as well as the old ones, so keep up the good work. In the meantime COOKIE!

Lemonade