Tuesday November 19, 2019 Susan Smolinsky & C.C. Burnikel

Theme: A TO Z (56D. All-inclusive, and a hint to 20-, 28-, 49- and 56-Across) - Each theme entry starts with A and ends with Z.

20. #1 in Major League Baseball career earnings: ALEX RODRIGUEZ.

28. 1970s joint U.S.-Soviet space flight: APOLLO SOYUZ.

 

49. Math class surprise: ALGEBRA QUIZ.

56. Musical genre of Tito Puente and Dizzy Gillespie: AFRO-CUBAN JAZZ.

Boomer here. Here I am on Tuesday, blogging on a puzzle by Hahtoolah and C.C.. This is their second collaboration.

Hahtoolah (Susan)

Across:

1. Longstocking of kiddie lit: PIPPI.

6. "Jason Bourne" star Damon: MATT.  I prefer MATT Dillon played by fellow Minnesotan, James Arness.

10. Shell rowers: CREW.  Speaking of the frozen tundra, CREW neck sweatshirts are appropriate attire this time of year.

14. Biting, as criticism: ACERB.

15. Sound reduced by carpeting: ECHO.  ECHO was a vehicle from Toyota.  I believe it failed.  It was the size of a roller skate.

16. Hill worker: AIDE.

17. Earl Grey relative: PEKOE.  C.C. loves tea.  I used to like an occasional orange PEKOE.

18. Old Roman fiddler: NERO.  I thought he was an Emperor.  Didn't know he fiddled around.

19. Buttonlike earring: STUD.  I used to see these sometimes on guys. Not me, I already have enough holes in my head.

23. Puppy's cry: YIP.  Give it a bottle, shut it up.

24. Chaney of "The Phantom of the Opera" (1925): LON.  Made a living being a spooky, scary guy.

25. Acidity nos.: PHS.  Not for me. I get a PSA blood test every month.

35. Function: ROLE.  I was in a high school production once. My ROLE was Noah.  I think P.J. Fleck wanted me to "Row the boat."

37. Actors' union, briefly: SAG.  Of course if your body start's to SAG, they'll retire you.

38. Remove from office: DEPOSE. Many government officials are being deposed with questions from Congress. But they are not being removed from office.

39. Fortified city of Castile and León: AVILA.

41. Diamond stat: RBI.  Anything over 100 is great in my humble opinion.

43. "MASH" corporal: RADAR.  Gary Burghoff played a great role.  Remember his first name on M.A.S.H. ??  Walter.

44. "Cape Fear" star: DE NIRO.  My all time favorite De Niro Movie was "Casino".  Hated Joe Pesci. glad he got whacked at the end.

46. Spinning toy: TOP.  "STOP HEY What's that sound, Everybody look what's going down."  (Buffalo Springfield).

48. Building bricks brand: LEGO.  LEGO my Eggo!

52. Arles article: LES.

53. Salad dressing ingredient: OIL.  That reminds me.  My van is due for a change.

54. Sis or bro: SIB.

63. "See ya!": TA TA.  "Well GO baby GO.  And I leaned back, and I closed my eyes ... and she left.  "The Hip Song" - Chad Mitchell Trio.

65. Acting independently: LONE.  Clayton Moore was the LONE Ranger.  I wanted to thank him.

66. "For real!": NO LIE.

67. "Um, that's fine": OH OK.

68. Villainous: EVIL.

69. Par-three clubs, often: IRONS.  Most par threes are over 100 yards.  I normally use a 7 or 9 wood which I carry.  What can I say??  I am old and the irons just don't hit the Titleist too far anymore.

70. Route-finding app: WAZE.  I usually just use Google.

71. Risqué message: SEXT.  Not me.  I don't text and I don't tweet.  I am too old to learn.

72. Common teen phase: ANGST.

Down:

1. Hemingway moniker: PAPA.

2. Eur. island country: ICEL.  Minnesota climate is pretty close this year.

3. Chow kin, briefly: PEKE.

4. Voting substitute: PROXY.  I always show up at the polls in November.  I did have to Proxy a vote for Hubert Humphrey in 1968 from Fort Campbell.

5. Spanish airline: IBERIA.

6. Darn: MEND.  Those Darn Hawkeyes spoiled the Gophers perfect record

7. Asian PC brand: ACER.  I did not know it was Asian.  I am looking at one right now.

8. Really excite: THRILL.  THRILL of victory, the agony of defeat.

9. "I can't top that": TOO GOOD. To be true. My High School Junior Varsity bowling team that I coach finished second in the conference final last Friday.  We had the lead with one game to go, and the other team shot a 187 to our 150.  Too bad there is no defense in bowling.

10. Job for a judge: CASE.

11. Upscale hotel: RITZ.  I bring these crackers to bowling on Mondays. My buddy brings the peanut butter and we snack between frames.

12. LSU URL letters: EDU.

13. Elope, say: WED.  This is between Tues and Thur.  You should probably wait for the weekend to elope.

21. They sometimes attract: Abbr.: OPPS.  I did not know opposites have nicknames.

22. Racing giant Bobby: UNSER.  Like father, like son.

25. Italian fashion house: PRADA.  The devil wears this.

26. Crude abode: HOVEL.  Add an "S" in front and you have a crude snow removal tool.

27. David's weapon: SLING.  All you need to go Goliath hunting.

29. 10-Across tool: OAR.  P.J. Flecks need these to "Row the Boat".

30. Rainbow flag letters: LGBTQ.

31. National gemstone of Australia: OPAL.  I think this is my October birthstone.

32. Alpine melody: YODEL.  LADY WHOO

33. Customary practice: USAGE.  Thanksgiving is coming USAGE in the stuffing.

34. Binary system digits: ZEROS.  There is only one in the Beetle Bailey strip.

36. Peace Nobelist Wiesel: ELIE.

40. Ann __, Michigan: ARBOR.  Wolverines took care of the Spartans there Saturday

42. Debtor's promise: IOU.  Ever wonder why this acronym is not IOY ??

45. Team nicknamed the Birds: ORIOLES.  Legendary Brooks Robinson and Cal Ripken Jr.  cannot help them anymore.

47. Italian tower town: PISA.

50. Niche: ALCOVE.

51. Alphabetically last flower on a list of familiar ones: ZINNIA.  Nice flowers.  We might try them next spring.

55. Tennis great Borg: BJORN.

57. The Piltdown Man, notably: FAKE.

58. Operating system since the '60s: UNIX.

59. Orion's __: BELT.  Pabst Blue Ribbon??

60. Sleep like __: A LOG.  Sometimes yes - Sometimes not so much.

61. Cab alternatives: ZINS.

62. Lemon peel: ZEST.  I used to use this soap in the shower.  I did not know it was a lemon peel.

63. AAA service: TOW.

64. "Eureka!": AHA.

Boomer

Tuesday July 30, 2019 Susan Smolinsky & C.C. Burnikel

Theme: TO ERR IS HUMAN  (65. Start of a Pope line about fallibility ... as shown by 19-, 25-, 42- and 55-Across?) - Each person has ERR hidden in their name.

19. Frequent Fred Astaire partner: GINGER ROGERS.

25. Army doctor for whom a D.C. medical center is named: WALTER REED.

42. Movies Superman portrayer: CHRISTOPHER REEVE.

55. "Glee" star who won "Dancing With the Stars" in 2017: AMBER RILEY.

Boomer here. Susan Smolinsky is Hahtoolah on our blog and this is her first puzzle for the L. A. Times.  No Runs, No hits, 4 Errors.

Hahtoolah (Susan)

Across:

1. Daytime snooze: NAP.  It can only be a nap if you do not snore.

4. Sprinkler liquid: WATER.  Have not had too much to use this year.  Mother Nature is watering our garden.

9. Nursery rocker: CRADLE. Rockabye baby

15. Mine find: ORE.  Lots of iron ore in the Northern Minnesota range near Hibbing, childhood home of Robert Zimmerman.  You may know him as Bob Dylan.

16. Classic Dior style: A-LINE.  Indeed a classic dress, Do you remember these ??

17. Eagerly unwrapped: TORE AT.  This is how we opened packs of baseball cards. 

18. Pronoun for a filly: HER.  Or SHE.

21. Salad veggie: ONION.  In potato salad maybe, I usually don't mix onions with lettuce.

23. River delta deposit: SILT.

24. Salary: PAY.  And it's work all day for the sugar in your tay, down beyond the railway

29. Close bud, in texts: BFF.

31. More loyal: TRUER.

32. Wool clippers: SHEARS.

35. '60s "acid": LSD. "Picture yourself in a boat on a river, with tangerine trees and marmalade skies. Lucy in the sky with diamonds".

38. Lewd material: SMUT.

40. Photographed from a plane: AERIAL.  I can never identify any land marks on these aerial photos.

46. Big rig fuel: DIESEL.  There are some pickup trucks manufactured to run on diesel also.  Many stations sell it, but it's a bit more expensive than gasoline, but maybe diesel produces economy mileage.

47. Excursion: TRIP.  See 35A.

48. Lion's lair: DEN.  Also a pack of Cub Scouts.

49. Attached with glue: PASTED.

51. Layered cookies: OREOS.

54. Kid's bleat: MAA.

60. Grounded fast flier: SST.  There once was a plane called a Concorde that could get you to Europe in less than three hours.  Grounded now, but I'll bet some of those millionaire golfers would have been happy to take it to the British Open.

62. "I did it!": TA DA. And 59-Down: "I did it!": YAY ME.

64. What the nose knows: AROMA.

70. Coquettish: COY.

71. Palindrome ending: I'M ADAM.  Once in Las Vegas, I traveled to the Arizona border near lake Mead and there was a big wall in the river.  I asked what it was and it said "____". 

72. Surrounded by: AMONG.

73. Quarterback's asset: ARM.  A good tight end and a couple of wide receivers will help also.

74. Zones for different usage, say: RE-MAPS.

75. Foamy coffee: LATTE.  I never had one, but I heard you can get one at Starbucks for the same price as 2 gallons of diesel.  Probably tastes better but could mess up your carburetor.

76. Caustic solution: LYE.

Down:

1. "Ain't gonna happen": NO HOW.  Slang, but what the heck?  It's a crossword puzzle.

2. Gladiator's milieu: ARENA.  Lots of NBA games will be starting soon.

3. Problem for Pauline: PERIL.

4. Ring Cycle composer: WAGNER. I have heard of Wagner Spray Tech and also Honus.

5. Boxer who proclaimed, "I am the greatest!": ALI.  He was quite a showman.  He left us in 2016.
  
6. Sardine container: TIN.  With a skate key attached to the lid, that you had to turn to open.  "Do you remember these ??"

7. Required H.S. class: ENG.  Odd, I went to high school with a whole bunch of guys and we all spoke English pretty well.  But we still had to take the class.

8. Witherspoon of "Big Little Lies": REESE.  A fantastic baseball shortstop for the Brooklyn Dodgers, (and a little before my time.)  Pee Wee Reese was elected to Cooperstown in 1984. 

9. PC corner key: CTRL.

10. Classic A&W soda: ROOT BEER.  My father used to make root beer in a basement crock. It was pretty good, maybe not as good as A&W or Hires, but we really liked it. 

11. Neighbor of Uru.: ARG.

12. Like fish and chips: DEEP-FRIED.  I generally bake the fish, and do not prepare greasy French Fries.

13. "Doctor Zhivago" heroine: LARA.  "Although the snow, covers the hope of Spring."

14. Online craft shop: ETSY.  I'll bet Etsy does not have my homemade boondoggle zipper pulls.

20. Clears (of): RIDS.

22. Baseball great Mel: OTT.  Another great player for the New York Giants. A little before my time, his 21 year career ended in 1947.  He was inducted to Cooperstown in 1951.

26. Steal steers: RUSTLE.

27. San __: Riviera resort: REMO. I've never been to Italy, but my sister Connie goes there now and then.  Not sure if she visits San Remo. 

28. Blow, as a volcano: ERUPT. Or explode at umpires like Aaron Boone (Yankees).  A great Billy Martin imitation a couple of weeks ago.

30. Taxi charge: FARE.

33. Creator of Atticus, Scout and Jem: HARPER.  Phillies Right fielder Bryce who left Washington for greener pastures,

34. All but: SAVE.

35. TV screen type: LCD.

36. Be sent via FedEx or UPS: SHIP.  I think Fed Ex and UPS both use trucks and airplanes.

37. Group of star athletes: DREAM TEAM.  Maybe the 1965 All-Star Game, with Mantle and Killebrew.  I am not a big basketball fan.

39. Beat strongly: THROB.

41. Spy novelist Deighton: LEN.

43. "Insecure" Emmy nominee __ Rae: ISSA.

44. Attempt to ensnare, with "for": SET A TRAP.  We had to set traps for mice, mostly in the garage, but once or twice in our basement.  I am not sure how they get in, but since we bought new doors for our home, we don't see the little critters anymore.

45. Land of the banshee: EIRE.

50. June honorees: DADS.  That was a brand of root beer.  Not the stuff Dad brewed in the basement.

52. Breakfast juice flavor: ORANGE.

53. Title for Paul McCartney: SIR.  "To Sir, With love" sung by Lulu in a great movie with Sidney Poitier.

56. Taj __: MAHAL.

57. Bus that makes all the stops: LOCAL.  When I play golf I stop at all 18 greens on the local course.

58. Atlanta university: EMORY.

60. Recipe instruction: STIR.

61. Not all: SOME.

63. Goals: AIMS.  Sign in the men's rest room - "We aim to please, you aim too please."

66. Old food label abbr.: RDA. I think it was an acronym for Required Daily something or other.

67. Thurman of "Pulp Fiction": UMA.

68. Witty remark: MOT.

69. Pantry pest: ANT.  We do not see them in the house, but we have plenty in the driveway.

 
Confidential to TTP.  Several weeks ago we suggested that Twins Jake Odorizzi and Lucas Giolito could be competing for a Cy Young award.  Well, Jake gave up nine runs to the Yankees in four innings, and Lucas coughed up seven runs to the Twins in half a game last week, so I am withdrawing my vote.

Boomer

Notes from C.C.:

Congratulations on your debut, Susan! You're such a joy to work with. So fast and efficient.