Friday, August 12, 2022, Roger and Kathy Wienberg

Theme: Mas-CAR-ade [sic]

Puzzling thoughts:

This puzzle was a bit of a "masquerade", as many of the clues were clearly disguised. And as for my ability to solve it? Well, I FIW, as you can see from the grid below. All of the letter squares with a red triangle in the corner are ones I had to reveal through the puzzle software:

As I began solving today's puzzle, I wondered how many of you would (42-across. Breezes (through):) SAIL(S) through this one? Or perhaps even see the theme, or (64-across. Break off:) END the solve with a (54-down. "All done!":) TADA? I certainly didn't, but once I revealed a few of my head-scratchers, and then solved the puzzle reveal, (62-across. Brandy-based cocktail, and a hint to locating the second part of four three-part puzzle answers:) SIDECAR, it all became clear. And, it made this puzzle a keeper!

Still don't see it? Let's explore the reveal to make some sense of it all ...

First, there were four clues - all in the down position - that were clued as "-". And while none of this made sense (even as some of them filled in via perps) if you just follow the red letters in the grid it will all become crystal clear.

The first "-" (29-down) was ROT. If you look above the black square (row 5, column 4) you see the word (14-down. Stick on a crudités platter:) RAW. If you then place the word CAR between (or along SIDE) these two words, then 14-down becomes RAW CARROT!

The second "-" (32-down. -:) yields the word PAL. Look above PAL to see (8-down. Like five bones in the hand:) META, and once you add CAR, 8-down becomes METACARPAL, or like 5 bones in the hand.

The third "-" was (53-down. -:) PONE. 39-down. Italian cream cheese: MAS, means nothing until the word "CAR makes it MASCARPONE. This:

And last, but certainly not least, the fourth "-" (56-down. -:) PET, made (40-down. Where stars may align:) RED (plus the SIDE CAR), RED CARPET. And come OSCAR time, you can see many "stars" align at the RED CARPET

Our constructors were last seen at the LA Times on this date.

Here is another link to info about this couple. As always, if either of the Wienbergs care to comment here, please enter and sign in! On to the rest of the clues ...

Across:

1. "__ your age!": ACT. If I had a $1 for every time that statement's been thrown in my direction I'd be set for life!

4. Hound: NAG. DOG fits, but not on Friday

7. Mischievous sprite: IMP. See 1-across; I've also been called an IMP at times. I'm a "sprite" in height, but not in weight

10. For instance: SAY. I often wondered if Francis Scott Key ever considered his first line in what became our National Anthem as "O for instance can you see ..."

13. Bach work: CHORALE. Moe-ku (as promised):

The Earp family
Approved Bach's work: "Gunfight at
The OK CHORALE"

15. "Fore!" site: TEE. CSO to HG, TTP, Boomer, and any and all of the CC golfers

16. __-K: PRE. Moe didn't attend PRE-k. Perhaps that's why he doesn't always "ACT his age"

17. Record collection?: DATA SET. "Lots of 1's and 0's; spreadsheets" so I'm told by Miss Margaret - my live-in librarian and laptop whiz

18. "And there's more" abbr.: ETC. Hang in there; today's blog won't be rife with a lot of ETC

19. Extra NBA periods: OTS. Overtimes. Also known as OT in NFL, NHL, and MLS. MLB has extra innings. Fun Fact: My almost 94 year old mom used to get the two phrases mixed up, and referred to an extended baseball game as "Over innings"

20. Simple style: CREW CUT. According to [Dictionary dot com], "The term CREW CUT was first recorded in the 1930–40s to describe the hairstyle of Ivy League students on the crew team (rowing). They cut their hair shorter on the sides and longer on the top to streamline their appearance (and performance)." Is that what they now call a FADE? I've gone full circle. Started getting CREW CUTS as a little shaver, and am sporting one now as a large portion of my scalp is bald

21. Meringue-based confection: MACARON. Moe-ku two:

Yankee Doodle had
Meringue injected in joint.
Called it MACARON-knee

23. Perched on: ATOP.

25. Defensive retort: AM TOO."Are not!"

26. MVP of the first Super Bowl: STARR. I was unaware that Ringo played football ...

30. Copies, for short: REPROS. I should've known this - or at least guessed it. Anyone here recall the "REPROS" we had in school, back in the day? Remember the smell?

33. Flying start?: AERO.

34. Sudden attack: FORAY. Which entry in today's puzzle is a CSO to another punster? This one: FORAY

35. Bentley of "Yellowstone": WES. I'd never thought of driving a Bentley to Yellowstone, but why not??

38. Inventor who coined the term "horsepower": WATT. Moe-ku three:

My first thought for this
After googling the answer
Was to say, "Wait, WATT?"

39. Exxon merger partner: MOBIL. According to [SpringerLink]: "When did Exxon merge with Mobil? In 1998, Exxon and Mobil merged in a deal valued at $81 billion. The merged entity became the third largest company in the world at the time of announcement. The merged company was called ExxonMobil Corp (stock symbol XOM)"

40. Musical symbol: REST. CLEF also fits

41. Nordic runner: SKI.

43. Let up: EASE.

44. Bo's'n's quarters: FOCSLE. FOCSLE? I definitely had to Google this one. I should've collaborated with Miss Margaret first, as she knew this straight off. The definition in Merriam-Webster

46. Storage place: CD ROM. You could possibly store a 17-across here, but a flash drive might be better (again, according to Miss Margaret)

47. With 60-Across, undefeated boxer who wrote the cookbook "Food for Life": LAILA (60-across. See 47-Across: ALI). Muhammad and Veronica's daughter. Her son looks like his grandpa

49. Prefix between kilo- and giga-: MEGA. "Kilo- means 1,000; a Kilobyte is one thousand bytes. MEGA - means 1,000,000; a Megabyte is a million bytes. Giga- means 1,000,000,000; a Gigabyte is a billion bytes"[udel dot edu] More info, and a neat graph!

52. Passage: EXCERPT.

55. Do better than: SURPASS.

61. Mauna __: LOA. 63-across. Mauna __: KEA. Not sure I've ever seen both of these used in the same puzzle, let alone side by side

65. Snob: ELITIST. I had EGOTIST, which got me all messed up in that section of the puzzle

66. Couture monogram: YSL.

67. Leaves in hot water?: TEA. Cute clue

68. "The Matrix" hero: NEO. I feel so out-of-touch as I never watched "The Matrix"; so this filled with perps (I think)

69. Justice Dept. arm: DEA. Can justice be served by the DEA for someone who showed up DOA from an OD?

Down:
1. "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" band: AC/DC. Not one of their iconic songs, except maybe to serious fans. Maybe Dash Tony has more history about this?? Fun fact: When Moe lived in Fort Myers, FL, he owned a wine business. One of his semi-regular customers was Cliff Williams; the bass player from AC/DC. Cliff and his wife Georgeanne were very beneficent. In 2011 they hosted a charity auction in their home; all proceeds went to a local neighborhood of underprivileged families. Moe provided several cases of wine, as well as doing the wine pouring for the event

2. Really overcook: CHAR. Sounds like my first time in a kitchen ... I think I actually burned water

3. Lug: TOTE. The plural, TOTES, is a brand of rainwear

4. Org. with a long track record?: NASCAR. 67-across was a cute clue; this one? Not so much

5. Language spoken along the Bering Sea: ALEUT. I might have either misspelled this, or maybe used INUIT in the first pass

6. Eat at: GET TO. Hopefully not something I do to you with my blogs

7. Agenda listing: ITEM. Ahh, agendas; brings back memories of the corporate world ... none, now; I'm retired!!

9. Nocturnal piglike mammal: PECCARY. Complete unknown, although they look very similar to our Arizona Javelina. [Wikipedia] "A PECCARY is a medium-sized, pig-like hoofed mammal of the family Tayassuidae. They are found throughout Central and South America, Trinidad in the Caribbean, and in the southwestern area of North America. They usually measure between 90 and 130 cm in length, and a full-grown adult usually weighs about 20 to 40 kg." This:

10. Athletic apparel: SPORTSWEAR. A very infrequently used crossword entry

11. "Star Wars" droid nickname: ARTOO. How come we never see his friend CEETHREEPEEO used in crossword puzzles?

12. Basic question type: YES NO. And yet, when I was in sales, our trainers always suggested we ask questions that began with HOW, WHAT, WHY, WHO, WHERE, or WHICH

22. Latin 101 word: AMO. A MOE? I never knew I was Latin

24. Snag: PROBLEM. I guess when you have a snag in a sweater, it IS a PROBLEM

26. Proverbs: SAWS. In [Dictionary dot com] the third meaning is: "saw3/sô/noun: saw; plural noun: saws

a proverb or maxim.

"Don't believe the old saw that you can't be out and still be a mover and shaker in Hollywood"

27. Tropical hardwood: TEAK. I often get confused by words that sound alike

28. Synthetic: ARTIFICIAL. Another seldom used puzzle fill. Speaking of "fill", I'm guessing that most pillows are filled with ARTIFICIAL fibers these days

31. Dwarf planet once known as Xena: ERIS. More info if you're so inclined to click on this link

34. Tin __: FOIL. Moe-ku four:

In "Wizard of Oz"
The Tin Woodman becomes the
FOIL of Winkies

36. Canadian gas brand: ESSO. CSO to CanadianEh! So, how much is ESSO going for these days, per liter??

37. Dandelion part: STEM. Does WINE fit this clue? Anyone remember Dandelion wine??

42. Miss in the game of Clue: SCARLET. She was easy to spot because she wore a sweater with the letter "A" embroidered on it

45. Flamenco cheer: OLE.

46. Brief exercise?: CARDIO.

47. Hardly seaworthy: LEAKY. Sounds like a plumbing PROBLEM, to me

48. Turnpike toll factor: AXLES. Did anyone here ever drive an 18-wheeler? I didn't, but I used to have a CB Radio. My handle was "Short Strokes". I learned all of the trucker/cb jargon. For example: "What's your twenty?" (answer in the comment section below if you know this answer)

50. German industrial city: ESSEN. ESSEN also means "meal" in German

51. Trickery: GUILE.

57. Low-pH substance: ACID. The pH "scale" runs from 1 to 14. Most elements/solutions under 7 are ACIDic; those over 7 are basic/alkaline. This:

58. RSVP convenience: SASE. Self Addressed Stamped Envelope

59. Mex. miss: SRTA. Abbr. for Senorita

That's all she wrote, Cornerites. Please add comments below. See you in a couple of weeks ... now for me to go catch up on some old sitcoms from the '50's and '60's

Tuesday, February 2, 2021 Roger and Kathy Wienberg

Catchphrases:  Each of the starred answers is a catchphrase, although they are not what I would generally consider as such.  Here is a listing of what I think of as being catchphrases.

17-Across. *  Carpe diem: SEIZE THE DAY.

23-Across. *   Be the first to begin: GET A HEAD START.

38-Across. *   Party gifts container: GRAB BAG.

52-Across. *   Act in desperation: GRASP AT STRAWS.

And the unifier:

62-Across. Familiar slogan ... and what each answer to a starred clue is?: CATCHPHRASE.  According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, Catchphrase is defined as (1) word or expression that is used repeatedly and conveniently to represent or characterize a person, group, idea, or point of view; or (2) a slogan.  The first word of each theme answer has a "Catch" component.  [Thanks, Anonymous@6:43.  I missed this completely!]

Across:

1. Morse code component: DASH.

5. John Wick, for one: HITMAN.  John Wick is a fictional character is a series of action-thriller films.  He was an orphan taken in by the Russian mafia and trained as an assassin.  John Wick is portrayed by Keanu Reeves (né Keanu Charles Reeves; b. Sept. 2, 1964) in the movies.

11. Wedding reception VIPs: DJs.  As in Disc Jockeys.  We had a live band at our wedding.

14. Puerto Rico, por ejemplo: ISLA.  Today's Spanish lesson.  Puerto Rico is an Island.

15. Blueprint: SCHEMA.  Not a Tuesday word or concept.

16. Legendary bird of prey: ROC.  All your questions of the mythical ROC can be found here.

19. Rap sheet letters: AKA.  As in Also Known As.

20. "Zip your lip!": CAN IT!

21. Lust or greed: SIN.  Two of the Seven Deadly Sins.  The other five are: Sloth, Envy, Pride, Wrath, and Gluttony.

22. "And how!": AMEN.  An interesting history of the word Amen.

27. Hug: EMBRACE.

29. Mom's mom: NANA.  We called my mom's mom Nana.  Dad's mom was called Grammy.

30. Extended pd. away from work: LOA.  As in a Leave of Absence.

31. Notable period: ERA.

33. Commercial charge: AD FEE.

37. U.K. network: BBC.  As in the British Broadcasting Corporation.  The BBC dates back almost 100 years.

41. Coffee dispenser: URN.

42. Invite for: ASK TO.

44. Aggregate: SUM.

45. Container cover: LID.

What my Tupperware lid drawer looks like.

46. Escape clauses: OUTS.  An Escape Clause in a contract, sometimes known as a Clawback, is a clause that lets a party out of the terms of the contract without a penalty.

They had an Escape tunnel.  Of course, there was a fatal penalty if they were caught.

49. Letters in alphabet soup: NOODLES.  Yummers!

56. Retinal cells: RODS.  Today's anatomy lesson.

57. Fannie or Ginnie follower: MAE.  Fannie Mae is short for the Federal National Mortgage Association.  Ginnie Mae is short for the Government Mortgage Association.  Mae was the name of both my grandmother and hubby's grandmother.

58. Silently understood: TACIT.

61. Dismissal metaphor, with "the": AXE.

65. A-lister: VIP.  As in a Very Important Person.

66. Wind instruments: FLUTES.

67. Biter on a pooch: FLEA.

68. Nonetheless: YET.  Any Yet, ...

69. Corporate jet maker: CESSNA.  You, too, can own a Cessna.

70. Hide partner: SEEK.

Down:

1. Frisbee, for one: DISC.  The Frisbee started out as a pie pan.

2. Befuddled: ASEA.

3. Shoe with a strap that nearly encircles the ankle: SLINGBACK.

4. More smoke-filled: HAZIER.

5. FDR's successor: HST.  Harry S Truman (May 8, 1884 ~ Dec. 26, 1972) became the 33rd American President upon the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Jan. 30, 1882 ~ Apr. 12, 1945).  

6. German pronoun found in half of Munich?: ICH.  This clue made me laugh:  Munich.

7. What we have here: THESE.

8. Highway divider: MEDIAN.  Concrete medians are cropping up all over my city.

9. Actress Seales of "Insecure": AMANDA.  Insecure is an HBO comedy series.  Apparently, Amanda Ingrid Seales (b. July 1, 1981) caused a bit of a scandal over an Emmy after-party.

10. Opposing vote: NAY.

11. Emmy category: DRAMA.

12. Phoenix's 2019 Best Actor role: JOKER.  Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (b. Oct. 28, 1974) portrayed the Joker in the movie of the same name.  I opted not to seek this film.

13. Few and far between: SCANT.

18. "At Last" singer James: ETTA.  Etta James (née Jamesetta Hawkins; Jan. 25, 1938 ~ Jan. 20, 2012) makes frequent guest appearances in the puzzles.

22. Hardly any: A TAD.

24. Taiwanese PC maker: ACER.  I learned of this computer manufacturer from doing the crossword puzzles

25. Queen of Olympus: HERA.  Hera is the queen of the Greek gods.  //  And 40-Down. Eros, in Rome: AMOR.  Mythological gods of love.

26. Reel trouble: SNAG.

27. Napoleon's 1814 place of exile: ELBA.  When Napoleon was exiled on St. Helena, there may have been a plot to rescue him by submarine.

28. Unruly crowds: MOBS.

32. Tummy muscles: ABS.  As in the Abdominal muscles.

34. Comprehensive: FULL SCALE.

35. Shallowest Great Lake: ERIE.  And a shout out to our dear friend, Abejo.

36. Goals: ENDS.

38. Rise, as prices: GO UP.

39. Batter's job in a squeeze play: BUNT.

43. Discard: TOSS.

47. Husk-wrapped cantina food: TAMALE. CSO to Lucina!

48. Something to update on Facebook: STATUS.

50. Solemn vow: OATH.

51. "Whistle While You Work" septet: DWARFS.

52. Turkey topper: GRAVY.

53. "Chicago" showgirl Hart: ROXIE.

54. Highly skilled: ADEPT.

55. Splinter groups: SECTS.

59. Understanding words: I SEE.

60. Hardwood tree: TEAK.  Everything you wanted to know about Teak Trees.

62. Ozone-depleting chemical: CFC.  As in Chlorofluorocarbon, which is actually a class of chemical made up of Carbon, Hydrogen, Chlorine and Florine.

63. Farm layer: HEN.

64. Free TV spot: PSA.  As in a Public Service Announcement.

Here's the Grid:

חתולה

P.S.: Thank You, Chefwan!!

Stay safe, everyone. I see the snow is still falling this morning in many parts of the country. I guess the groundhog didn't see his shadow this morning, so maybe spring will come early this year.

Happy Ground Hog Day!

Thursday, January 24th 2019 Roger & Kathy Wienberg

Theme:

62A. Clothing accessory, perhaps ... or what you can see in each of four groups of circles?: BELT BUCKLE

No getting around this one - you need the circles to see the theme. We have four belts - conveyor belt, Orion's belt, money belt and asteroid belt, all of which are "buckled" down, across and then back up in the grid.

I take my hat off to constructors who pull off this kind of puzzle - it's not just a question of fitting your theme entries into the grid and then filling around them, it's a whole step up in the craft. Roger & Kathy nailed it today.

Orion's Belt:

After Orion, and this week's blood super wolf moon, let's go hunt down to what else we've got:

Across:

1. It can cause a bad trip: LSD

4. Renders speechless: AWES

8. Late-night host with an orange-blimp running gag: CONAN. In the "industry" news this week for announcing a 30-minute slot of his show, rather than the full hour.

13. Show of hands: VOTE

14. Some Pequod crewmen: HARPOONERS. What a great word to find early on the journey today.

16. Tapped pic: ICON. Only if you've got a touchscreen of some kind.

17. Many Bach compositions: ORGAN MUSIC. Quick! Think of a J.S.Bach fugue! I betcha a dollar to a donut it was this one here

18. Sources of "Family Feud" answers: SURVEYS. "And the survey said ......"

20. Soccer officials: REFS. Much-maligned around the world. Not as maligned as the NFL official who didn't throw the flag for pass in the Rams - Saints game on Sunday. I don't think he should plan a trip to New Orleans for a while.

21. Till this moment: AS YET

22. Utah lily: SEGO

23. Hush-hush org.: NSA. There's a few "orgs" today. Shout 'em out as you see 'em.

26. Rebuffed, with "off": BRUSHED

29. Mob scenes: RIOTS

31. In bygone days: AGO

33. Retailer with blue-and-yellow megastores: IKEA

34. Does penance (for): ATONES

35. Clothing line: SEAM

37. Go-aheads: YESES. Could be YESSES, but two esses won out here over three.

39. Eye layer: UVEA

40. Say: FOR ONE. Might be hard to see this - when you're explaining something - "Take that crossword, say - it's a good theme" - "Take that crossword, for one, it's a good theme". I found it harder to explain than to solve. I probably made a complete mess of it.

42. Hops hot spot: OAST

44. "Things Are Fine in Mount __": Charley Weaver book: IDY. My last fill. Thank you, stab-in-the-dark gods.

45. Augment: ADD TO

46. Unborn: IN UTERO

48. Scale members: RE'S. Yuck, sorry. Do's, Re's, Me's, Sol's .... Nope. Not having it.

49. Preserves, in a way: CANS

51. Baton-passing event: RELAY, Baton-dropping, most embarassingly.

54. Switch partner: BAIT. and Switch.

55. Makes moist: DAMPENS

57. Electrical generator: ALTERNATOR

61. "The Matrix" actress Carrie-__ Moss: ANNE. Anyone called Carrie Anne cannot match up to my criush - Carrie Anne Inaba

63. Cupcake decorator: ICER

64. Andean shrubs: COCAS

65. Little piggies: TOES

66. Nero Wolfe creator Stout: REX. Who? What?

Down:

1. Center of power: LOCUS

2. Panels illustrating film scripts: STORY BOARDS. I loved the long downs. This was a cracker to start.

3. High capital: DENVER. A mile, plus or minus, high. I stayed in a hotel there (shame on me, the name escapes me) who had the one-mile marker next to the elevators on the ground floor.

4. "Hey, sailor!": AHOY

5. General concerns?: WARS

6. Unit of work: ERG

7. Let off: SPARED

8. Solace: COMFORT

9. Responsibility: ONUS

10. Wii forerunner, briefly: NES

11. Onassis nickname: ARI. stotle.

12. Foreign policy advisory gp.: NSC

13. Plastic choice: VISA. Mastercard,, Discover and Amex could have fit, but only AMEX might have snuck in there.

15. 100 sawbucks: ONE G. One Grand = 100 tens.

19. Place for pins and needles: ETUI

22. Salts, say: SEASONS

23. King's philosophy: NON-VIOLENCE

24. Jousting mount: STEED. Poor buggers. They already weigh two tons and then there's armor plate and a knight who matches them for mass on top. A long day for a horse at the jousting. Footnote - the terms of my 99-year leasehold flat in London explicitly forbade me from organizing jousting tournaments. I also was not allowed to keep coal in the bath. I was on the second floor. What the coal restriction was about, I have no idea. The Duchess of Camden was the freehold owner, bless her.

25. Test for purity: ASSAY

27. Scottish isle: SKYE. 

Sail, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing, 

"Onward" the sailors cry. 

Carry the man who's born to be king, 

over the sea to Skye"

28. Half a giggle: HEE

30. Letters for short people?: IOU

31. Equidistant: AS FAR. I was back and forth on this one. Quite aptly, I suppose - I was back one way, forth the other way, as far from the middle each trip

32. Sparkly stone: GEODE. I remember this thinking of a battery shorting out in a shower of sparks - Anode, Cathode .... yay Geode!!!!

34. Boss' backup: Abbr.: ASST. 

36. Witty remark: MOT. Can it be witty just being a mot? I think bon mot.

38. __ de toilette: EAU

41. Strict diet restriction: NO CARBS

43. __ paper: TERM

46. Whole: INTACT

47. Get to work again: REPAIR

50. Japanese aborigine: AINU. Or Did I say I got my DNA results last week? 77% Irish, 19% English/Welsh and 2% each French and Norwegian. My friend was 100% 蝦夷.

52. Subsidiary structure: ANNEX. Attached to the ell? We should be told.

53. Belgian river: YSER

54. Phi __ Kappa: BETA

55. Dish (out): DOLE

56. Son of Zeus and Hera: ARES

57. TV network with much Shondaland programming: ABC. Shondaland is the production company that co-produces shows such as Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice.

58. Summer sign: LEO. I'm either a Virgo or a Libra, depending on which version of my birth certificate you believe.

59. Solace for a sad BFF: TLC. This was weird. TLC was a lot earlier than BFF-speak. 60's - two-thousand-teens mash-up. I liked it.

60. Ref's ruling: TKO. Technically, a Technical Knock-Out.

Power to the People!

Steve