Saturday, July 13, 2019, Greg Johnson

Themeless Saturday by Greg Johnson

Today celebrates the delight/bane of my existence - National French Fry Day. I've often said that if were no potatoes, I'd be many pounds lighter. (See fast food fries ratings just above the grid at the bottom of the blog)

As a matter of fact, there isn't much you can do to a potato to make it unpalatable to me. Well, If you put them under liver... 😖

I managed to sail right through Greg's pangrammatic puzzle with nary a potato necessary

Across:

1. It may be tuna-flavored: CAT FOOD 

8. Words spoken while pointing: THAT WAY - Assistance from a tuna lover

15. Places with tanks: AQUARIA.

16. Some Australians call it "chateau cardboard": BOX WINE - A fun new phrase for me

17. In a peculiar fashion: FUNNILY - Reminds me of last Sunday's LY puzzle

18. 1996 Olympics site: ATLANTA.

19. Most of pewter: TIN.

Periodic Table Composition of PEWTER

20. [Uh-oh!]: GULP.

22. Money: TENDER - something tendered or offered, especially money, as in payment. 1535–45; earlier tendre, noun use of Anglo-French tendre to extend, offer. 

23. Golden __: ALES - Here ya go

25. Original "Jeopardy!" announcer: PARDO - Even this poor video quality brings back fond memories of Don PARDO and Art Fleming (:39)

27. It's put on: GARB and 1. Garment commonly seen in Morocco: CAFTAN - Hasbro will sell you an Indiana Jones villain wearing GARB known as a CAFTAN

28. Rock bottom: NADIR - NADIR in poetry

30. Sugar __: BEETS.

32. CV section: BIO - Writing a BIO in your Curriculum Vitae 

33. Two-thirds of 900?: ZERO ZERO - The other third is a 9

35. Place to go in London: LOO - A public LOO where you can, uh, go on a London street

36. One hanging around near the church entrance: GREETER.

39. Matching 401(k) contribution, e.g.: JOB PERK.

41. "Everybody Hurts" band: REM - A nice listen

42. Drink served in two states?: ICE WATER - Physics Phun! Here we see water in two of its states - solid and liquid

44. "__ recall ... ": AS I.

45. Title for Juan Carlos I: EL REY  - Juan Carlos I fue EL REY de España desde 1975 hasta 2014 (Juan Carlos I was the king of Spain from 1975 - 2014)

46. Pony Express employee: RIDER - The phrase "Orphans preferred" says something about this job

50. Sugar __: CONE 

52. Words on perishables: USE BY - Once that time strikes, my lovely bride pitches it no matter what 

54. The printed one doesn't include specials: MENU.


55. Massages: KNEADS - One kitty KNEADS another

57. Eccentric: KOOK.

59. Waiter at a stand: CAB 

60. Weak: LANGUID - A synonym was used in  the broadcast phrase "Wound my heart with monotonous LANGUOR" which signaled the French Underground that D-Day was imminent  

62. Fruit, so to speak: OUTCOME - Deeds are FRUITS, words are only leaves.

64. Territory within another territory: ENCLAVE -  Le Petit Senegal in Harlem, Manhattan

65. Walk all over: TREAD ON - South Carolinian Christopher Gadsen's Revolutionary War flag 

66. Heinz Field athlete: STEELER.

67. Elves, in some cases: HELPERS.


Down:

2. Constellation whose name is Latin for 51-Down: AQUILA and 51. Mexican flag bird: EAGLE.

3. Stored in a cask: TUNNED - I suppose if it's stored in a TUN... 

4. Agitate: FAN - Every group has someone who tries to FAN the flames of an argument 

5. Not a copy: Abbr.: ORIG.

6. Prepare to show some muscle: OIL UP 

7. Some farmhands: DAY LABORERS 

8. Not yet on the sched.: TBA.

9. More than eager: HOT TO TROT.

10. Semi bar: AXLE.

11. Bluegrass characteristic: TWANG.

12. Like some watches: WINDABLE - I've had them but can't remember the last time I wound a watch

13. Situated toward the front: ANTERIOR - The ACL is in front of the PCL below

14. High school memento: YEARBOOK.

21. Top suit: PREZ - Suit is vernacular for management 

24. What "L" may indicate: SIZE - I just love this joke!

26. Nightclub VIP's spot: DEE JAY BOOTH.

29. Fix, as laces: RETIE.

31. Not at all wasted?: SOBER - Ah the many synonyms for being drunk

34. Unlikely to be out and about: RECLUSIVE - Time magazine's Top 10 most RECLUSIVE celebrities

36. Crowlike birds: GRACKLES - FINALLY they have mostly left our yard! They are big, noisy bullies that arrive around the first day of spring and leave around the first day of summer. Our little birds now have a chance at the feeders and our sunflower chip bill will go down

37. Sonorous: RESONANT - My RESONANT voice was a great asset for me in my teaching career 

38. High standing: EMINENCE.

40. Proper partner: PRIM.

43. Word with day or end: WEEK.

47. Solve, as a cipher: DECODE - Perhaps the most famous DECODER was Alan Turing in Hut 6 at Bletchley Park

48. Win over: ENAMOR.

49. 17th-century Flemish painter: RUBENS - Lovely Christina Hendricks of AMC's Madmen is said to have a RUBENESQUE figure

53. "'A' - __ Adorable": Perry Como hit: YOURE.

56. Serving two purposes: DUAL.

58. "Goofy Greats" record label: KTEL - This commercial brings back memories

 
61. Essen article: DER  - Dies ist DER vorletzte Hinweis (This is the penultimate clue)

63. Hat for an Angel: CAP - Many think the Angel under this CAP is today's best MLB player. His name is at the bottom of this blog *

After digesting this LA Times ranking of fast food fries, you can move on to comment:

* That California Angel is Mike Trout 

Saturday, July 6, 2019, Jeffrey Wechsler

Themeless Puzzle by Jeffrey Wechsler 

Archie League

On July 6th, 1936, the National Air Traffic Control System was created and it has progressed immensely since the days of the first air traffic controller - Archie League of St. Louis in 1929.

We now have a very high tech group of professionals that keep us safe in the wild blue yonder. To appreciate their job please click on this site that shows where every plane is that is currently flying anywhere in the world. I was shocked when I first saw how many planes are aloft at one time.

You can zoom in and out to see what plane is flying over your head right now and understand how hard it was to get all those planes on the ground on September 11, 2001

Today marks the second Jeffrey Wechsler themeless Saturday I have blogged in my year-and-a-half tenure here at the Corner. My first Wechsler Saturday puzzle blog was on the first Saturday of this year. He is shown below as the second from the left in this Minnesota event.  We all know the beautiful lady who is front and center. C.C.'s interview with Jeffrey

Now I will try to guide you through Jeffrey's crossword flight path from my Nebraska control tower. Wechsler flight 7.6.09 is now leaving the gate with various ETA's for the end of the trip:

Across:

1. Copper container?: POLICE CAR - The thought of copper meaning slang for a policeman occurred to me but I thought, nah, Jeffery wouldn't start with that. Well that was the first turbulence I hit on this flight. I most remember Car 54 and Adam-12

10. Avian sounds: CAWS - Not COOS it turns out

14. Clues in: MAKES AWARE.

15. Bypass: OMIT.

16. Field of operations?: ARITHMETIC - No new iteration of New Math makes sense to this math teacher. Pearson Publishing makes big bucks if you choose New Math as shown here.

17. Infiltrator: MOLE.

18. Car wash supply: RAGS - What? No SOAP?

19. Follower of TV?: SET.

20. Grapefruit stuff: PULP 

21. Penultimate of 24 letters: PSI - Next to last in Greek alphabet

22. Soup base: PEA 

25. 2002 Soderbergh film based on a 1961 sci-fi novel: SOLARIS - Rotten Tomatoes thought more of George Clooney's space effort that came eleven years later

27. "Stone walls do not a prison make" poet: LOVELACE - "Nor iron bars a cage" from Richard's 1642 poem To Althea, From Prison

30. Go bad: ROT.

31. Boxy conveyances: ELEVATORS - Art Deco entrances to said boxy conveyances in the lobby of the Empire State Building

33. Tolkien terror: ORC - Hello old cwd friend 

35. Accommodate: SUIT.

36. Pull apart: RIP - Just RIP that bandaid off!

37. Part of a bust: KILO - Illicit drugs (correction) often come in these 2.2. lb lots

39. Mideast group with observer status at the U.N.: PLO.

40. "After the Gold Rush" musician: NEIL YOUNG - Here ya go!

43. Bushes seem to flourish in it: Abbr.: GOP - Of these GOP Bushes, W's library is at 50. Dallas sch.: SMU.

45. Playful Pacific Northwest marine denizen: SEA OTTER.

46. Like pens designed for detailed work: FINE NIB - We crossworders are familiar with a pen's NIB

51. Auditor, often: Abbr.: CPA.

52. Bank product: LOAN.

53. Position, briefly: POV - It all depends on your Point Of View 

55. Where the tibialis anterior originates: SHIN.

56. Opposed to: ANTI.

57. Dismissed lightly: POOH POOHED - A 1939 NYT editorial POOH POOHED the idea that  TV would ever replace the radio. Origin of the phrase

61. In __: unmoved: SITU - An IN SITU mosaic in a Pompeii bathhouse 

62. Conscience: INNER VOICE 

63. Robert of "Airplane!": HAYS - The funniest movie I have ever seen (Robert HAYS on trumpet)! Craziness in the air traffic controller tower was a big part of this movie

64. Insignificant: PENNY ANTE - Also a low rent poker game


Down:

1. "The Mikado" props: PARASOLS.

Emma Kerr as Peep-Bo

2. "Just tell me already!": OK I GIVE UP, "What do you call a boomerang that won't come back?" (*Answer at the bottom of the blog)

3. With 23-Down, chow line: LETS 23. See 3-Down: EAT 

4. Cousin of -like: ISH.

5. Cell feature: CAM - I wonder if this lens would really enhance my cell CAM

6. One of Bo Peep's charges: EWE - She can't find 'em!

7. Best Musical Tony winner after "Nine": CATS.

8. First of 12: ARIES - Where the sun is during the spring equinox.  Why it really isn't in ARIES any more

9. Clerical leader: RECTOR.

10. Niels Bohr, to Victor Borge: COMPATRIOT - Fellow Danes in two very different disciplines 

11. Affaire de coeur: AMOUR - Love is an Affair of the heart

12. "__ ever!": "Yes!": WILL I 

13. Prominent Lincoln Memorial features: STEPS  - There are 58 STEPS from the plaza level up to the chamber.

14. Sleuth who knits: MARPLE - Margaret Rutherford was Agatha Christie's Miss Jane MARPLE in film from 1961 - 1964

22. Military group: PLATOON.

24. Seed with a prominent cap: ACORN 

26. "And another thing, buddy ... ": LOOK YOU.

28. Typical Bond foe: EVIL GENIUS - Here's some (I can only name Dr. No and Goldfinger)

29. Iroquois enemies: ERIES.

32. Infiltrators: SPIES.

34. Walk-off home run, e.g.: CLUTCH HIT - Baseball's most famous (1:00)

38. Swimwear option: ONE PIECE - In 1922 this D.C. cop's job was to make sure these ONE PIECERS were no more than 6" above the knee

41. On the __: LAM.

42. Starbucks size: GRANDE.

44. Repetitive British farewell: PIP PIP - Cheerio old bean!

46. Word with mob or card: FLASH - Gotta love this as it builds for six minutes

47. Ancient Greek region: IONIA - Map

48. Dapper: NATTY.

49. Northernmost Kentucky county: BOONE - Our 4,800 mile trip to Rome began at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport which is in BOONE County KY just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati 

54. Lindsey on skis: VONN.

55. "For violent fires __ burn out themselves": Shak.: SOON - "His rash fierce blaze of riot cannot last. / For violent fires SOON burn out themselves" John of Gaunt said of Richard II

58. Farm female: HEN.

59. Explore where you shouldn't: PRY.

60. Fertility clinic supply: OVA - It's also the name of this In Vitro Fertilization clinic in Zurich 

*A boomerang that won't come back is called "A Stick"

Now put your seat backs and tray tables in their upright and locked position and feel free to comment.

Saturday, June 29, 2019, Christopher Adams

Themeless Saturday by Christopher Adams

Today celebrates your local pour-master and perhaps listening post.

FYI: "A mixologist is an individual with a passion for combining elixirs and creating extraordinary cocktails, whereas a bartender is an individual with a passion for making great drinks and creating well-balanced experiences. To be successful, you really need both types of pros behind the bar."

Christopher Adams

Our constructor Christopher Adams is currently a graduate student in mathematics at the University of Iowa. He graduated in 2014 from Cornell University, with a major in mathematics and minors in physics and creative writing, after which he spent a year abroad teaching physics at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar. 

Christopher's puzzle took me twice as long as Dr. Lim's did last Saturday but was still a fun excursion.

Now let's examine the loci of our math man's cluing:

Across:

1. Drink containing neither of the ingredients in its name: EGG CREAM - Harkens back to the days of soda fountains. Here's the recipe for the chocolate variety - Pour 3 tablespoons of chocolate syrup and 1/4 cup of milk or half-and-half into a 16-ounce glass. While beating vigorously with a fork, slowly add club soda until the glass is almost full. Add a straw and serve very cold.

9. Kidder who played Lois in four "Superman" films: MARGOT - Before the blue screen was added

15. Trendy Starbucks option: SOY LATTE - SOY milk instead of dairy milk


16. Ballpark figures: USHERS - "Crazy Steve" is a truck driver by day and an USHER with some good dance moves at night in Peoria, IL

17. "Kennedy" biographer: SORENSEN - Native Nebraskan Ted SORENSEN graduated from Lincoln High School and UNL

18. "Grey's Anatomy" show runner Rhimes: SHONDA - I have visited "Shondaland" quite often on Netflix. Her productions have included many strong women

19. Secluded spot: NOOK - Not a NEST it turns out

20. Rose: AWOKE.

22. "__ Rosenkavalier": DER - The Knight Of The Rose - A comic opera by Richard Strauss. If you think I knew that, I've got this bridge in Brooklyn... 

23. Actor Danny Trejo, for one: LATINO - From the IMDB

25. Towel spec: HERS.

26. Worked on a roast: CARVED - Carving a roast for dummies (;30)

30. One on the phone, often: TEXTER - Not while driving!

32. Here, in Juárez: AQUI - a very familiar sign in our town

33. 2022 World Cup city: DOHA - This World Cup, usually played in the summer, has been moved to the Qatari winter due to the incredible high summer temps in DOHA

35. "Nunsense" costume: HABIT - Here starring Rue McClanahan 

38. Academic dictum: PUBLISH OR PERISH - Academic treadmill

41. Glides (through): SAILS.

42. Heavyweight fight?: SUMO - No 12. Workplace concern: GENDER BIAS here

43. Account: TALE.

44. Album by Destroyer with a German title meaning "broken": KAPUTT - You would have known this if you were into Kiss tribute bands from Canada

46. Ameliorate, in a way: LESSEN.

48. Burns miss: LASS - Robert Burns of course

50. Eponymous Portland bookstore founder: POWELL - Number 4 on Top Ten Things to do in Portland, OR

52. Evil Tolkien soldier: ORC - A frequent member of the cwd military 

53. Big note: C-SPOT - Some restaurants will no longer accept C-SPOTS ($100 bills)

54. Bring home: EARN 

58. Fictional 1719 autobiographer: CRUSOE - Many thought Daniel Defoe's character was real

60. More than just meddle: MUSCLE IN.

63. Tasmanian capital: HOBART - Viking Cruises offers this trip from L.A. starting at $15,000 with HOBART being a port of call 

64. One might copy from it: EDIT MENU.

65. Ace of Base, e.g.: SWEDES - "Alex, I'll take 'Swedish pop rock quartets beginning with A' for a $1,000" Oops, it's not our old cwd buddies!

Ace Of Base 

66. Discounted amount: NET SALES - Like 20% off MSRP?


Down:

1. Head of state?: ESS - State

2. "I'm listening": GO ON.

3. Greek deli item: GYRO - "YEE row" seems to be the consensus pronunciation

4. Psychic Miss: CLEO - There's one born every minute

5. Bother big-time: RANKLE.

6. "The Martian" has none: ET'S - Most famous line from this great movie "I'm gonna have to science the $*^+ out of this!"

7. Bothered big-time: ATE AT -  I know how Jerome will see this fill 😏

8. 1927 Hemingway short story collection: MEN WITHOUT WOMEN - All you need to know

9. Arctic grazer: MUSKOX - Named for the strong odor it emits during mating season

10. Court immortal: ASHE - Arthur is a tennis star from Richmond, VA

11. Parthenon P: RHO - Yup, RHO is the third letter in Parthenon - Παρθενώνας

13. Court command: ORDER.

14. Peter and Paul, but not Mary: TSARS - TSAR Paul I was a great grandson of Peter I (the Great)

21. Like show-offy push-ups: ONE ARM 

24. Tosses in: ADDS.

25. Trick-taking game: HEARTS - Play online if you like

26. Mushroom parts: CAPS.

27. Water color: AQUA.

28. It has over 43 quintillion configurations: RUBIK'S CUBE.

29. Ritzy retreats: VILLAS - Info on VILLAS to rent in Tuscany

31. Not just any: THE - Ohio State emphasizes THE

34. "You're too kind!": OH STOP.

36. Archipelago component: ISLE - Solzhenitsyn's archipelago was of gulags (forced labor camps) in the U.S.S.R. not ISLES

37. Second of a logical pairing: THEN - It appears here that entering A was the only way get a TRUE response

39. MSN, for one: ISP - My Internet Service Provider is Spectrum (formerly Time/Warner)

40. Ask for opinions: POLL 

45. Some March Madness madness: UPSETS - UPSETS are fun but the final four teams are populated by many of the favorites save for the occasional UPSETS

47. Sends to Washington: ELECTS.

48. Leven and Lomond: LOCHS - There's about an hour-and-a-half driving time between these two LOCHS (lakes)

49. The CW show about a vigilante archer: ARROW - Wanna stream some episodes?

51. Scriabin work: ETUDE - Tolstoy called Alexander Scriabin's music, "a sincere expression of genius"

53. Fission site: CORE - This is where the uranium atom is split in a nuclear power plant and that heat boils water which... 

55. __ mater: ALMA.

56. Show shock: REEL - The Beach Boys were Rockin' and a-REELIN' in this fun song

57. Roger Maris' uniform number: NINE - Roger (a proud product of Fargo North Dakota High School) got a record breaking 61 home runs in 1961. BTW, if you don't know the other guy depicted below, baseball really isn't your thing.

59. Regrettable: SAD - It was very SAD that the stress of chasing Babe Ruth's single season home run record made Roger lose hair

61. Skip, with "out": SIT - Roger did SIT out one of the 162 games that year

62. Frat letters: NUS - There are four Greek letters that would fit this 2-letter fill. Can you name the other three?

Very nice puzzle for a Hawkeye! (Husker sarcasm 😙). Feel free to comment on Christopher's great work.

Note from C.C.:

Happy 49th birthday to dear Barry G, who used to comment on our blog regularly. So glad that he continues to solve the daily LAT crosswords and reads our blog from time to time. Is Joshua now taller than you, Barry?

July 2, 2016