Friday, May 23, 2014, Sam Ezersky

Theme: "I'll have the usual."

Let's start with the reveal today:
56-Across. Pub purchases, and a hint to this puzzle's circled letters : MIXED DRINKS. If you had the circles, it was a pretty easy scrambled letter theme to spot.

11-Down. Refuse transports : DRAIN PIPES. Pepsi - overwhelmed by the competition in this puzzle?

17-Across. No ordinary creation : MASTERPIECE. Sprite - made by Coca-Cola Co.

27-Down. Record player : DISC JOCKEY. Coke - Coca-Cola's original.

35-Across. Colonial environment? : ANT FARM. Fanta - also made by the Coca-Cola Co.

Marti here, switching with Lemony who was kind enough to blog my puzzle yesterday. In this one, well-known brands are mixed up inside the theme entries. I thought the theme was well-done, and enjoyed seeing the spiral pattern with a bonus 7-letter themer smack in the middle. And just missing a Q for a pangram. Let's see what else Sam is offering today.

Across:

1. Meddle, in a way : KIBITZ. Great word to start off!

7. Regarding : AS TO.

11. Shakes at rehab : DTS. Not the ice cream drinks, but Delirium Tremens.  Not nearly as fun.

14. Carelessness? : APATHY. Great misdirection. Not caring makes you apathetic.

15. Skater Michelle : KWAN.

16. P-like letter : RHO. I can kind of see the similarity…

Greek RHO

19. 2008 govt. bailout recipient : AIG.

20. Some Super Bowl highlights : ADS.

21. Typical leader? : STEREO. Stereotypical.

22. Send an IM to : PING. IM = Instant Message.

23. More than glance over : PEER AT.

24. "__ Tonk Women" : HONKY. Rolling Stones classic, but I'm saving my music link for a better one.

25. Golfer's concern : BAD BACK. Do you think Tiger will ever…

28. Get ready on the golf course : TEE UP. …again?

30. Pelican relative : IBIS.

31. Like the action in "High Noon" : REAL TIME.

34. NFL's Jim Brown et al. : FBS. Fullbacks. Before he was an actor, he played for the Cleveland Browns his entire career 1957-65, and set several records. His 1,863 rushing yards in the 1963 season remains the all-time record for that franchise to this day.

38. __ patch : PEA.

39. Walls are an important part of it : FACEBOOK.

41. Drop-down item : MENU.

42. Cartoon mouse : JERRY.

Tom's nemesis

43. Instrument for Jimmy Dorsey : ALTO SAX. Here's my choice for today. Classic! 1:25

46. "The Hot Zone" subject : EBOLA.

48. '90s sitcom neighborhood : BEL AIR. "The Fresh Prince of BEL AIR."

50. Gossamer : LACY. A bit of gossamer lace for the guys.

51. Like some livestock : BOVINE. And it's only fair to have some BEEFcake for the ladies.

52. "__ Am": 2007 Alicia Keys album : AS I.

55. "For shame!" : TSK.

58. Pickax picking : ORE.

59. Yemeni seaport : ADEN.

60. Tout's tidbit : HOT TIP.

61. "Opposed" : NAY.

62. Kid : JEST.

63. Entry for Ripley : ODDITY.


Down:

1. Hindu god of desire : KAMA. The Sanskrit term also means pleasure and love - one of the four goals of life.

2. Air, for one : IPAD. The iPad Air was CNet's 2013 Editors' Top Pick for the best full-size tablet.

3. Largemouth __ : BASS.

4. Long-haired cousin : ITT. From "The Addams Family."

5. Debussy work, across the English Channel : THE SEA. In French, "La Mer."

6. Allergy medication brand : ZYRTEC.

7. Director Kurosawa : AKIRA. 1910-1988. Prolific and influential film maker. I remember his "Seven Samurai."

8. Southern brew : SWEET TEA.

9. __ salad : TACO.

10. "Story of My Life" band __ Direction : ONE. Also initialized as 1D, a boy band that was propelled to instant success via social media. Their first three albums debuted at number 1.

12. Aptly named Final Jeopardy! theme song : THINK. Anyone watch Ken Jennings and Roger Craig lose to Brad Rutter?

13. "Never eat __ waffles"" compass point mnemonic : SOGGY. N-E-S-W.

18. Exec's extra : PERK.

22. Show some lip? : POUT.

23. TV pledge drive holder : PBS. Do you support them?

24. Navigation location : HELM.

25. "Back to the Future" bully : BIFF.

26. Group whose second letter is often written backwards : ABBA.

Registered Trademark

29. Exaggerated feature in Obama caricatures : EAR.

31. '60s atty. general : RFK. Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy.

32. Suvari of "American Pie" : MENA.

So pretty!

33. __ de vie: French brandies : EAUX. Singular: Eau de vie.

35. Spelling word? : ABRA.cadabra.  Magic spell. Minor nit: it's only part of the word.

36. Neither partner : NOR.

37. Places for action figures : TOY BOXES.

40. Serpentine : EELY.

41. "Eat __ chikin": Chick-fil-A slogan : MOR. I love their ads, but don't think I have ever eaten at one.

43. "Put __ on it!" : A LID.

44. Cry from a nest? : LAND HO. Crow's nest.

45. Steering system component : TIE ROD.

46. Entertainer John whose middle name is Hercules : ELTON. Né: Reginald Kenneth Dwight.

47. Iraqi seaport : BASRA.

49. It happens : EVENT.

51. Tarry : BIDE.

52. Lock opening? : ANTI. Anti-lock, as brakes.

53. Satiric bit : SKIT.

54. Traveling game : I SPY. with my little eye...

56. Coll. focus : MAJ.or.

57. "__ be an honor" : IT'D…to blog again sometime for the Friday crowd!

Marti

Sunday March 25, 2011 Sam Ezersky

Theme: Greg's List (Craigslist) - Hard C sound is changed into Hard G sound, resulting in significant spelling change in each key word.

23A. Uses Knorr packets instead of poker chips? : GAMBLES SOUP. Campbell's soup.

29A. Lard display site? : FAT GALLERY. Fat calorie.

31A. Apparition with a proboscis? : MOSQUITO GHOST. Mosquito Coast.

57A. One putting up framed stone carvings? : GLYPH HANGER. Cliff hanger.

69A. Stories told by rapt storytellers? : TALES FROM THE GRIPPED. "Tales from the Crypt."

85A. Superior vis-à-vis Huron? : GREATER LAKE. Crater Lake.

112A. Trade war group? : GUILD IN BATTLE. Killed in battle.

115A. 24 undeveloped photos of Old Faithful? : GEYSER ROLL. Kaiser roll.

122A. Baby's wake-up gadget? : GOO GOO CLOCK. Cuckoo clock. Two part change.

18D. "Don't come any closer, Zombie!"? : STAY, GHOUL. Stay cool.

80D. Prison workers' respite? : GUARD GAME. Card game.

Heavy themage.

Normally we don't see non-theme entries have the same number of letters as the theme entries. Constructors and editors do not want to confuse solvers which are theme entries. Today we have quite a few long Downs. Since the theme entries all have clear question marks, so no confusion here. Plus, those long Downs are all quite sparkling.

This is Sam Ezersky's first published puzzle. And a Sunday. Amazing feat. Congrats!

Across:

1. Scavenged, as the fridge : RAIDED

7. Lines at the register? : UPCS. The scannable lines.

11. Nabokov novel : ADA

14. Throat clearers : AHEMs. I think Argyle's first comment on the blog is "Ahem", right, Santa?

19. Verdi title bandit : ERNANI. Hard to remember.

20. X-Men enemy who can control fire : PYRO. "Fire" prefix.

21. Sniggler's catch : EEL

22. Didn't participate, with "out" : SAT IT

25. Stat for 30-Down : RBI. And 30 Down. MLBer with the most career seasons of 100-plus 25-Across : A-ROD. 14, to be exact.

26. New Mexico's state flower : YUCCA

27. ''Here __ again!'' : I GO

28. Jazzman Al and sportscaster Linda : COHNS. Linda Cohn is with ESPN's SportsCenter.

35. Piece activist's gp.? : NRA. Nice clue.

36. Dress (up) : TOG

37. Pencil maze word : ENTER

38. Teen's room, to many a mom : STY

39. Sailor's patron, briefly : ST. ELMO

41. Gym shorts material : MESH

42. Calendario entry : DIA. Day.

44. "Peek-__!" : A BOO

46. Brit. lexicon : OED

47. Sock end? : EROO. Sockeroo.

48. Penn of "Harold & Kumar" films : KAL

51. Entrée feature : ACCENT.

54. One of a game's 16 : PAWN. Know nothing about Chess. It has 16 pawns?

56. Real mess : SNAFU

60. Do not disturb : LET BE

62. Cards' home: Abbr. : STL. Cardinals. Pujols-less.

63. Windbag : BORE

64. Taina of "Les Girls" : ELG. Another difficult to remember name. Same with her given TAINA. Finnish.

65. Race of Norse gods : AESIR

67. War on Poverty org. : OEO (Office of Economic Opportunity)

75. Upbeat Progressive Insurance spokeswoman : FLO. No idea.

76. Looped handles, in archaeology : ANSAE. Plural of "Ansa".

77. Wasser in Winter : EIS. Ice. Wasser = Water.

78. Type of poll : EXIT. Exit poll.

80. Understand : GET. For Splynter.

83. Noted tart stealer : KNAVE. "The Queen of Hearts" poem.

88. "I'm at your disposal" : USE ME

90. Aqueduct Racetrack nickname : BIG A. Who knows? OK, maybe eddyB.

92. Sequel title words : PART II

93. See 79-Down : MEX. 79. With 93-Across, spicy cuisine : TEX. So what kind of salsa do you prefer? Mild, medium or hot? Medium is the highest I can stomach.

94. Done to __ : A TEE

95. Arabic "son of" : IBN

96. One of the orig. Southern Colonies : N CAR

98. Material studied by Watson and Crick : DNA

100. Durban dollar : RAND. Durban is third largest city in South Africa, says Wiki.

101. Meat shunners : VEGANS. I want to be a vegan, but I'm not that morally high.

103. __ pop: Weezer genre : EMO. Emo pop is also called called "emo pop punk". Whatever. Kids stuff.

106. Plot : GRAPH

110. 24-Down malady : DTS. Delirium tremens. And 24D. Plastered ones : SOTS

111. Lad : BOY

118. More peculiar : ODDER

119. Non-PC? : MAC. I'm a PC.

120. Taking some cuts, say : AT BAT. Baseball.

121. Corrida cheer : OLE

125. Setting for many King novels : MAINE

126. Palindromic pooh-bah : AGA. Turkish pooh-bah.

127. Seedy joint : DIVE

128. __ the bud : NIPS IN

129. Glorify : EXTOL

130. Hoover, e.g. : DAM. Not vacuum cleaner or the president.

131. Amanda of "The Whole Ten Yards" : PEET. Very pretty. Look at her eyes! I think she can launch 900 ships, Lemonade!

132. Lacks the skills for : CAN'T DO

Down:

1. Ruling group : REGIME

2. Catherine of __ : ARAGON

3. Secret to the max : IN MOST. This answer looks odd to me.

4. A little one will "do ya," in old ads : DAB

5. Blowup: Abbr. : ENL

6. Perfect score, to Paolo : DIECI. "Ten" in Italian.

7. Consequence : UPSHOT

8. Taedong River capital : PYONGYANG. North Korea. Pyongyang literally means "flat land". Pyong has the same character as Chinese "Ping", meaning "flat".

9. Valentine recipient, perhaps : CRUSH. Remember your first Valentine's gift?

10. Bribe : SOP

11. Infuse with oxygen : AERATE

12. It's tough to be in a lot of it : DEBT

13. Garage job : ALIGNMENT

14. Places of refuge : ASYLA. Plural of "asylum".

15. U-__ : HAUL. Probably what Dennis used to move his stuff.

16. Odds and ends : ET CETERAS

17. Word coiner? : MICROSOFT. Great clue.

29. Photog's setting : F STOP

32. End-of-proof letters : QED

33. Bathsheba's husband : URIAH. Or Heep from "David Copperfield".

34. Bolivian bear : OSO

40. It'll help you slow down : LOWER GEAR

41. Game pieces : MEN

43. Truman's secretary of state : ACHESON (Dean). Stranger to me.

45. Second-string squads : B TEAMS

48. Old 123-Down foe : KGB. 123D. Cold War foe of 48-Down : CIA

49. Immensely : A LOT

50. Vega's constellation : LYRA

52. Farm newborn : CALF

53. Dürer work : ENGRAVING

55. "I cannot tell __" : A LIE

56. Trickle : SEEP

58. Ill-gotten gains : PELF. LOOT, SWAG too.

59. Mark up or down, maybe : RETAG

61. NW city nicknamed "The City of Trees" : BOISE, ID. NW indicates a shortened name.

66. Everest aide : SHERPA

68. Autobahn auto : OPEL

70. Sommer of "A Shot in the Dark" : ELKE

71. Universal donor's type, for short : O NEG

72. Director Martin : RITT. "Norma Rae", "Hud", etc.

73. Student stressor : EXAM

74. Bank manager? : DIKE. River bank.

81. Heir's burden : ESTATE TAX. Nice answer.

82. Skosh : TEENSY BIT. Good one too.

84. 1960s album with a cover photo of its band crossing the street : ABBEY ROAD. Another good one.

86. Pigeonlike South American bird : EARED DOVE. I can't see her ears.

87. "Does this __ bell?" : RING A

89. __ school : MED

91. Quash : ANNUL

95. Actor/composer Novello : IVOR. I simply forgot his name. My brain remembers what I want to remember.

97. "__: Miami" : CSI

99. Creative output : ART

102. Sparkly : AGLEAM

104. Like some small racecars : MIDGET

105. __-cat: sandlot game : ONE O

107. Maximally : AT MOST

108. Adirondacks lake : PLACID

109. Emphatic refusal : HECK, NO!

111. Medicinal Asian leaf : BETEL. Stimulant.

113. Sarge's superior : LOOIE

114. Tough mount to mount : BRONC

116. Not loco : SANO. Spanish for "sane". Loco is Spanish for "nuts".

117. Gymnast Korbut : OLGA

122. Econ. yardstick : GDP

124. Hosp. employee : LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse)

Answer grid.

C.C.