Saturday, January 19, 2019, Ryan McCarty

Themeless Puzzle by Ryan McCarty

 Going to the movies can be a great to mediocre event but the one constant of going is the beguiling smell of popcorn. Today we celebrate this simple delight on National Popcorn Day. A Univ. of Cal. at Irvine prof figured it cost $.10/oz to make and is sold for way more per oz. than a filet but how can you resist?

Popcorn comes in infinite varieties but for me, I'll take plain old yellow popcorn in real oil, salted and lightly buttered! Keep your chocolate, cinnamon, cheese and jalapeño flavors!

Our constructor today is Princeton grad Ryan McCarty ’14. Ryan info from the last write-up I did of one of his puzzles.

Ryan's puzzle drove me crazy as some of the clueing was two steps beyond fiendish but turned out to be really fun in the end, like getting that caraway seed out from between your teeth! I'll complain comment in my write-up of this puzzle where I quickly filled in the NE and then had a wonderful slog to the finish line at the DNIESTER River.

BTW, I think the grid design was incredible and very elegant! Ryan used only 22 blocks and only 62 words! Wow, those are some very impressive numbers!

All right, let's see what else popped into Ryan's head (ya had to see that comin'!) 

Across:

1. Barber's "Adagio for Strings" is in it: B FLAT MINOR - Oh, not a bigger musical work but the key in which it was written. Ryan!

11. Hits with a charge: ZAPS - "Don't tase me bro!"

15. Kerry Washington's "Scandal" role: OLIVIA POPE - I had to look up her and the show and same goes for 40. "Clown Prince of Hip-hop" Biz __: MARKIE. Biz MARKIE

16. Jukebox opening: SLOT - One of the first

17. Sang: NAMED NAMES - Film maker Elia Kazan joined the Communist Party in 1934 for a year-and-a-half.  Sixteen years later he NAMED NAMES of others who had joined the party to the HUAC committee so he could keep working. Most other Hollywood types kept quiet and Elia's party invitations diminished.

18. Villa-studded Italian lake: COMO - Ho una villa sul Lago di Como (I have a villa on Lake Como)

19. Salon boards: EMERIES - Emery boards

20. One taking things literally?: REPO MAN - 22. Angry: HEATED Matt Burch from short-lived Operation REPO TV show has a discussion with a car owner with delinquent payments.

23. Part of a football game-ending tradition: GATORADE - Coach Saban does not seem to be pleased with his GATORADE bath

24. Rear attachment: ENDER - Texting while drive can cause a REAR-ENDER car accident

25. Worked together: PARTNERED - When these two PARTNERED together, they became the #1 passing/receiving duo in NFL history 

26. Nailed, test-wise: ACED.

27. "Rabbit ears" antennae, e.g.: DIPOLES - We had a TV with the aforementioned devices that looked like this

28. Pixie and flip: DOS - HairDOS

29. Wheat whackers: SICKLES - Undoubtedly, someone with a scythe or SICKLE cut this wheat but these wheat whacking women in Punjab, India are not using either to thresh the grain 

30. Poor: BAD.

33. Washington team: HUSKIES - Oh, Washington University (UDUB) in Seattle   3,000 miles away from D.C.

34. Goat-man of myth: FAUN - Is this the right shot for Match.com? 

35. Rocks below bridges?: NOSE STUDS - This one below her nose's bridge are magnetic 

38. Cabinet member under Dubya: CONDI - The owner of the Cleveland Browns talked about hiring lifelong fan CONDI Rice as their new head coach. 

39. See 43-Across: OLD CHAPS - Our cheerleaders back in the stone age had a cheer: 43. With 39-Across, "Listen up, lads": "I SAY (clap, clap), OLD CHAP(S) (clap, clap),  Take the ball (clap, clap), fight back (clap, clap)". No really!

41. Boards around the house: DECKING - We switched out real wood for synthetic DECKING

42. Rocky Mountain rodents: MARMOTS.

44. Ones sniffing out trouble: CANINE UNIT - A valued member of the UNL CANINE UNIT

46. Reactor meltdown site: CORE - Not a geographic location but where the fission takes place

47. Old cooking show with a Creole theme: EMERIL LIVE  - BAM!

48. Outcomes: ENDS - That arm is merely a means to an END to this kitty

49. "Gotta split!": SEE YA LATER - I'm not saying alligator, you can't make me!


Down:

1. Unthinking, as a mistake: BONE HEAD - #78 Leon Lett celebrated too early and hustling #82 Don Beebe made him fumble before he got a touchdown which 4. Staved off: AVERTED the Cowboy's scoring a touchdown

2. Spanish steps?: FLAMENCO - Why do I remember the name José Greco after all these years?

3. Fruity refreshments: LIMEADES.

5. Larger, as a sum: TIDIER - A sorta variation on "a TIDY sum" 

6. Like gnus: MANED - I'm not saying "I already GNU that", you can't make me!

7. Draft choices: IPA'S - Englishman George Hodgson made a lighter colored Pale Ale by using coke-fired malt and he exported it to India where it became very popular. Hence...

8. __ de guerre: NOM - An assumed name under which one writes, paints or fights such as

9. Macbeth and Otello: OPERA ROLES - Both these OPERA ROLES created by Giuseppe Verdi (Joe Green in English) call for baritones

10. Puts down new roots: RESETTLES - The second generation of Hispanics whose families have RESETTLED in our town are really adapting 

11. Standard deviation measures: Z-SCORES - A Z-SCORE of +1 means one standard deviation above the mean (average) and a -1 means... Of course, it is figured by z = x – μ / σ,

12. Baseball family name: ALOMAR - Sandy, Sandy Jr. and Roberto

13. Salon stuff: POMADE - Johnny Cash's choice

14. Hopped-up: STONED.

21. Johnnycakes: PONES - Johnnycake. Johnnycake (also called journey cake, Shawnee cake, corn PONE or johnny bread) is a cornmeal flatbread. Johnny is thought to be a corruption of Shawnee Cake. Wiki

23. Retailer specializing in youth fashion: GAP KIDS - Had to erase GAP BABY

25. Impromptu competition: PICK UP GAME - Getting picked last is a trauma that lasts a long time

27. Golfer's yardage book data: DISTANCES - I don't write down the distances, I use this

29. Bar food: SUSHI - What? No bar nuts?

30. "There's no doubt about this": BANK ON IT - I can hit that green shown here on the Golf Buddy over the water from 123 yards out! I said I can, not that I will.

31. Hearing-related: AUDITIVE - Ryan!

32. River to the Black Sea: DNIESTER - Essentially from Kiev to Odessa

33. "Why, sure!": HECK YES - Do we get a lot of European Rivers in crossword puzzles?

34. Conventional writing method: FORMULA - TV sitcoms come to mind if you aren't talking about chemistry formulae - Lame sarcastic lines filled in with laugh tracks 

35. "Uh-uh": NO DICE.



36. "Little House" antagonist Nellie __: OLESON - Alison Arngrim, then and now

37. Digital camera insert, briefly: SDCARD - Scan Disk CARD

38. Steve of "Foxcatcher": CARELL - He recently lamented that his famous show, The Office, could never be made in today's PC climate. No matter what is written, someone will take offense. 

40. Craze: MANIA.

42. Like wetlands: MIRY - Ryan! 😏

45. Alumni newsletter word: NEE - I am totally okay with a woman retaining her birth surname. 

All this talk just gave me an idea. I'll be pop back to read your comments after a visit with Orville Redenbacher and the microwave! 

Saturday, September 8, 2018, Ryan McCarty

Themeless Saturday Puzzle by Ryan McCarty

Today is a very special day for us at the corner as we recognize one of the true foundations of our activities at this site - Literacy. Today is International Literacy Day.

We denizens of this site greatly value literacy and contribute to each other's store of this virtue as we blog here. I lift my glass to all of you today to celebrate this noteworthy day.

Our constructor today is Princeton grad Ryan McCarty ’14. The Princeton Pride says of Ryan - "He started doing crossword puzzles at Princeton: “I have always had a penchant for word games, but I can’t say I was too great at crosswords at first,” he says. When he tried creating puzzles from scratch, the music major (with a certificate in applications of computing) found both his creative and analytical skills helpful. McCarty, now a technology consultant at the Securities and Exchange Commission, began submitting puzzles for publication only last year — since then, his work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times."

My solving experience was typical for a Saturday as some of the long fill and  crossword staples proved to be very helpful.


Now let's see what else this Ivy Leaguer has for us today

Across:

1. Way to get up in Gotham: BAT ROPE -  How they filmed the BAT ROPE for the TV show (note Batman's cape) and then how it looked when played back including Sammy Davis Jr. providing one of the many cameos on this campy production.

8. Obeyed a laryngologist: SAID AH - Anyone else have a "gag reflex" issue?

14. Ones on the left: LIBERALS  - The 1789 French Assembly seated the conservatives who supported the King on the President's right and the liberals that opposed the monarch on his left

16. In a showy way: ARTILY - Any port in a literary storm

17. Aptly named barbell brand: IRON GRIP.

18. Furniture wood named for its color: RED ELM 19. "Hah!": TOLD YA red elm makes beautiful furniture 

20. Activewear shoe brand: AVIA.

22. Fig. targeted in some hacks: SSN - Mine starts with 50- like many around me. How 'bout yours?

23. Humble abodes: HUTS - Ginger or Mary Ann?

24. Knight clubs: MACES - Or perhaps one for a damsel 

26. "Oye Como Va" songwriter Puente: TITO  - "Hey? Hows it goin'" Santana's version

27. Superman and Supergirl: ET'S - Both hailed from Krypton

28. Crony of Captain Bildad, in "Moby-Dick": PELEG - These two owners of the Pequod are featured on cards in this game 

29. Jaguar spot?: CAR AD - Car name chicanery again. The number syllables in this car name depends on which side of the Atlantic you reside

30. 2014 title role for Mia Wasikowska: MADAME BOVARY - Flaubert's 1857 novel was immediately banned on sexual grounds 

32. Works that are up and down?: TRAGICOMEDIES - My nomination in this portmanteau category

34. Where some get sloshed at sea?: BOOZE CRUISES - I'd like to cruise but not on one of these 

35. Onetime members of the Winnebago Nation: OTOES - Nebraska has a city named Winnebago and a county named OTOE

36. Put to rest: INTER - Brando's turn as Marc Antony in his speech with the most famous use of the word INTERRED 

37. Put up: BET - I'd have to give 5pts if I BET on the Huskers today against Colorado

40. Pickup line?: RAMS  - Dodge pickups are now called RAM. Ryan went to the vehicle name well twice.

41. River critter: OTTER.

42. Pair of British puzzles?: ZEDS - Z is ZED in Britain and puzzles does indeed have two of them

43. Minolta Maxxum, e.g.: SLR - A ground breaking Single Lens Reflex Camera introduced in 1985

44. "Dragonwyck" novelist Seton: ANYA  - First published in 1944

45. Film with Manny the Mammoth: ICE AGE.

47. Escape __: CLAUSE - If our marriage license had one, Joann could/should have exercised it years ago

49. "Yeah, right": I DOUBT IT

51. Offers?: HIT MEN - They will "off" someone for a price 

52. They're free of charge: NEUTRONS - Ryan threw us science guys a bone

53. Disc golf starting point: TEE PAD - From the TEE PAD, through the woods, off a tree, off the ground and up into the "hole" (metal basket). Wow!

54. WikiLeaks editor: ASSANGE - A hero or villain ,depending on your point of view, who has asylum in Ecuador for now


Down:

1. Buoyant: BLITHE - In Noel Coward's BLITHE Spirit a medium conjures up long-dead Elvira by accident and her light heartedness is a big part of the play. I think you can surmise which character below plays Elvira who who can only be seen by former husband Charles in the middle back

a

2. Ventilate: AIR OUT  - Do politicians have to AIR OUT their clothing and their consciences after making decisions in a smoke-filled room

3. Hardware with crosspieces: T-BOLTS.

4. Rips: RENDS - _ E _ _ S gave me TEARS first. You?

5. Frenzied revelry: ORGY - Google at will

6. Accident scene arrival: PARAMEDIC- Our hometown PARAMEDICS saved my good friend's life

7. Drug company founder Lilly: ELI - He was a Civil War colonel who founded a pharmacy company that pioneered gelatin capsules and fruit flavoring

8. One-piece garments: SARIS - कैसे साड़ी है in Hindi

9. Bailiwick: AREA - From Middle English Bailiff meaning sheriff and wik meaning dwelling place. Today means "sphere of superior knowledge"

10. "__ better be good!": IT'D 

11. Second section of Verdi's "Requiem": DIES IRAE - (Day of Wrath) - Our multi-voweled crossword buddy 

12. League's best: ALL-STARS.

13. Sacred song collection: HYMNODY and 25. Eagerness: ALACRITY into each life a little learning must fall 

15. Tomorrowland attraction: SPACE MOUNTAIN - SPACE MOUNTAIN is lower and slower than most all other coasters but its dips and turns are COMPLETELY in the dark which makes it terrifying (shown here at the start)

21. Australian food spread: VEGEMITE  - Vegemite is a thick, black Australian food spread made from leftover brewers' yeast extract with various vegetable and spice additives. Yum?

26. Smiley formerly of PBS: TAVIS - He is currently caught up in the "He, she said" swirl of the #METOO movement

28. House helpers: PAGES - Here are the House PAGES in the state capitol in Olympia, WA

29. One with app-titude?: CODER - Here is some AppCODE for the OSX platform

30. Confusing tourist attractions: MAZES - Cornfield MAZES are popular this time of year here on the Great Plains

31. "Don't kid around!": BE SERIOUS - or "You can't  BE SERIOUS" (:13)

33. Hotel door posting: ROOM RATE has to be posted but are always a 32. Real whopper: TOTAL LIE 

34. Soup often served with sour cream: BORSCHT. Борщ часто подается со сметаной (Borscht is often served with sour cream)

37. Pummel: BEAT ON - Most big time FB schools BEAT ON an inferior opponent to begin the season

38. Bed border: EDGING  - We use landscape bricks in our yard

39. Sub-Saharan menace: TSE TSE  - This mosquito is the most dangerous animal in Africa

41. Without stopping: ON END - Principals can talk ON END to staff who want to go do something useful

42. Eyeball-bending critter: ZEBRA.

44. Between ports: ASEA.

46. Stops shooting: CUTS  - "Frankly Scarlett, I don't give a damn!" CUT!

48. Masked worker, perhaps: UMP  - A foul ball caroms off one masked worker to another

50. Org. featured in TV's "Weeds": DEA.

I would invite the very literate members of our cadre to comment at will about Ryan's puzzle.

DA GRID