Friday, April 24, 2020 Brian Temte & Jeff Chen

"An Average Puzzle"


18. "The Shape of Water" director: GUILLERMO DEL TORO.

43. Snapchat marketing expert, in modern lingo: SOCIAL MEDIA NINJA.

65. "Watch your mouth!": DON'T GIVE ME ANY LIP.

And the reveal:

71. Garden-variety, and a hint to what's hidden in 18-, 43- and 65-Across: AVERAGE.


An LA Times debut for Brian Temte, who in collaboration with Jeff Chen, gives us three grid spanners that hide the theme answers.

And unless you got the answers via perps, they also give us three clues that need the reveal answer to provide you with, well, a clue:

22. Below 71-Across: BLAH.
47. Below 71-Across: SUBPAR. 
72. Below 71-Across: POOR.

If you are a top to bottom solver, or happened to hit one of those three clues early, you may have looked to 71A to figure out what the clue should be.   Average didn't immediately come to mind for Garden-variety.   At least it didn't for me.  Horticulture came to mind.  Outdoor plants versus indoor plants.

Also, Brian and Jeff didn't exactly make solving the reveal at 71A easy.   Grid spanners hiding the theme answers, no circles to help you find them, and perhaps not-so-easy perps crossing the reveal.

Adam Savage I knew.
Super star ?  A famous person ?  Idol ?   No, it was noVa.  So a literal super star.
Bartleby left me clueless, and I had no idea that he or she was a scrivenEr.
Angle and athlete prefix tRi came easily enough.
Noir weapon could have been rod, but this time it was gAt.
Then we get to: Spanish soccer association that means "the league": La LiGa.  Did you know this ?
Then an easy E in gavEl.

Thus, AVERAGE.   So "Below average" as the clue for 22, 47 and 72 across.

I have to admit that after solving the mini-theme test and then completing the grid, I almost forgot to look for the hidden words in the spanners.   Mean, Median and Mode explained.

Across:

1. 35th pres.: JFK.   John Fitzgerald Kennedy

4. Smaller-than-life depiction: ICON.

8. Larger-than-life creations: COLOSSI.

15. Spleen: IRE.

16. Hilo shindig: LUAU.

17. Put into play: ENACTED.

21. Construction __: SITE.

23. "Frontline" network: PBS.   A favorite PBS program.  Thought provoking.

24. What a pursuer seeks to narrow: THE GAP.

28. Evergreen shrubs: ERICAs.    Oops.  Make that three words that had to be corrected.  Had yuccas.  Bzzt !  The Genus Erica   You may know it as heath or heather.

31. Meat on a stick: KEBAB.   Key in a K (skip a cell), Key in a B (skip a cell),  Key in a B and then check perps.

33. English "L'chaim!": TO LIFE.   Hebrew translated to English.  A toast.

36. Pack animal: ASS.

39. "Gimme the skinny!": TELL IT.    TELL me went in.    It wasn't until I got the second grid spanner that I saw that it should be IT.

Cue up Aaron Neville.  He wants to know if she's just playing with his emotions in this 1966 song:


42. Stiff: RIGID.

46. Northern Iraqis: KURDS.

48. Virtual-city denizen: SIM.  A simulated person.

49. __ column: SPINAL.

51. Cabbage in a French café?: EUROs.   Usually, slang in the clue would require slang in the answer, but it is Friday.

Google Translate tells me the French word for the vegetable cabbage is chou, and sounds something like shoe.

Chou looks like a Chinese word.  It sounds something like cho, rhyming with show.  Chou seems to mean draw, or pump, or take out, or pick out, or shrink, or quilt, or flagellate.   Must be about the tone.

Many Asian languages (exempli gratia, Chinese) are tonal, so in addition to having vowels and consonants, tones can change the meaning of words.   I read that some Chinese dialects can have as many as 12 tones.

I also read that in some other languages (e.g. Japanese, Hebrew, Norwegian, et al.) that pitch accent can change the meanings of words by stressing different syllables.

Where was I ?    Cue up Styx - Too Much Time On My Hands:


53. Long trip: VOYAGE.

56. Old tankard metal: PEWTER.

59. Suffix for but-: ANE.   Butane.   "Man, that's cold !"

61. Rolling rock?: LAVA.

Meet the Volcanoes

63. High pair: ACES.

73. In bygone days: AGO.

74. __ status: MARITAL.

75. Ward with awards: SELA.

76. Explosive stuff: TNT.

Down:

1. Lively dances: JIGS.

2. __ Roll-Ups: FRUIT.

The boxes no longer say "Made with real fruit" and have very limited use of fruit imagery.

3. Urban of country: KEITH.


4. Not well: ILL.

5. Numberless type of ball: CUE.   My first thought was gum. 

6. Pole in a lock: OAR.

7. Indifferent: NUMB.   Apathetic.

8. Chest material: CEDAR.

9. Like some wonders: ONE HIT.  nh

10. LeBron's team, on scoreboards: LAL.   LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.

11. World Series mo.: OCT. ober.

12. Corner quartet, perhaps: STOP SIGNS.   The town we moved to when I was eleven had no 4-way stop signs.  There was only one traffic light, with a constant flashing yellow in one direction, and a flashing red in the other.   Two churches, a hardware store, a pharmacy, a one pump gas station, a bar, a post office and our high school.   Cue up John Mellencamp.



13. Balkan native: SERB. ian.

14. Altar words: I DOs.

19. Welsh national emblem: LEEK.  Wait, what ?  Why ?  Let's check with  Wales Online

20. Cheer for a banderillero: OLE.   Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de banderillear.

25. Have one's chance to speak: GET A SAY.

26. Genesis victim: ABEL.   For some inexplicable reason, I keyed in Cain rather than ABEL, but fixed that two words later when I got to KEBAB.

27. Conceals, in a way: PALMS.   Sleight of hand.

29. Stylist's braid: CORN ROW.   Versus a farmer's rows of corn.

30. Others, in Latin: ALII.    As in Et (and) al. (others).  "... the phrase in Latin could be written three different ways, depending on whether the other things one referred to were masculine (et alii), feminine (et aliae), or neuter (et alia)."  - Merriam-Webster

32. French flag couleur: BLEU. 

34. Island nation whose flag has a Union Jack on it: FIJI.

35. Dutch cheese: EDAM.

36. Seeks permission: ASKs.   Some are big.

37. Common stock option?: SOUP.   What's the diff ?

38. Bartleby, notably: SCRIVENER.   "Bartleby the Scrivener" at Sparknotes

40. "__ delighted!": I'D BE.

41. Hold higher, as a baby bottle: TIP UP.

44. License fig.: I.D. NO..   I remitted the fees to have my driver's license renewed for another 4 years via the online portal for the Secretary of State.   Didn't expect to get it back for awhile, but it came back within a few weeks.  Real ID can wait.

45. Swiss river: AARE.

50. Spanish soccer association that means "the league": LA LIGA.   Am familiar with some of the teams like FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, but not familiar enough to know the association name.

52. Command to Fido: STAY.

54. Bench mallet: GAVEL.  The piece of wood struck by the gavel is known as a sounding block.

55. Christmas __: EVE.

57. Conspicuous display: ECLAT.

58. Hold sway: REIGN.

59. Savage of "MythBusters": ADAM.   This program fist aired in 2003 and immediately captured my interest.  Myths weren't always busted.  Sometimes they held true.   

60. Super star: NOVA.

62. Roadie's haul: AMPs.

64. Stain: SPOT.

66. Prefix with angle or athlete: TRI.

67. Noir weapon: GAT.


68. Fair-hiring initials: EOE.

69. Co. that bought Netscape in 1999: AOL.

70. Food service trade org.: NRA.  The annual National Restaurant Association was scheduled for May 16th to May 19th at McCormick Place in Chicago but North America's largest convention center has been turned into a medical facility.



Check your answers against this grid:

Friday, April 10, 2020 Dick Shlakman

"ER Added"


17. How to get buns of steel?: TAKE THE A TRAINER. 

25. Axes one of the market employees?: BOUNCES A CHECKER.

43. "All these steaks are too well done"?: NOT ONE RED CENTER.

57. Hilariously react to a butt-baring prankster?: HOWL AT THE MOONER.


Remove the ER from the nouns to get the base phrases of these funnily redefined theme entries.   The first one was the hardest for me to parse.   Just took a bit of staring to see it.   It was also the one that cracked me up the most.

This looks to be another debut for the LA Times crossword venue.  Lemonade sent me an email saying that today's constructor and Jeff Chen collaborated on a pair of NYT puzzles in 2014.  So six years later, it seems Dick has once again decided to dip his toe into crossword construction. 


Across:


1. Stat cousin: ASAP.

5. Acronym often seen with a plus sign: LGBTQ.    I forgot the Q part, and the intersecting "NBA Div." clue had me stumped.

10. 1886 debut at Jacobs' Pharmacy in Atlanta: COKE.    The first year's sales averaged nine glasses a day @ five cents each.   

14. Unflappable: COOL.   For a moment, I thought Molly Brown was unflappable.  Then remembered the correct adjective.

15. Stop on the Métro?: ARRET.    Métro tells you it is French.  The question mark alerts you that something is afoot.

Arrêt does mean stop.   But a station on the Métro is formally known as a station de métro.   Who woulda thunk it ?

Informally, the answer could mean stop...   In the right context,  arrêt would probably be understood to mean train station stop.   But be careful, because a bus stop is known as an "arret de bus" so... 

This convoluted explanation brought to you by me after reading an explanation on Trip Advisor.   I defer to Kazie and those who are well-versed in travelling the Métro.

 
16. Anderson of "WKRP in Cincinnati": LONI.  -   The St. Paul, Minnesota born bosomy blonde bombshell probably kept the sitcom afloat and probably set aflame the hearts of the teenage boy viewing audience.  

20. Rental at Aspen: SKI BOOTS.  Boot rentals make sense unless you are an avid skier or a ski bum.

21. All agog: IN AWE. 

22. Mme. counterpart: SRA.   The abbreviations for Madame and Senora, respectively.  Wlile we are at it, let's also review that Mademoiselle would be Mlle., and  Senorita would be Srta.

23. Samsung : Bixby :: Apple : __: SIRI.   Virtual assistants.  High tech.

33. Sleep disturbance: APNEA.    That's not what wakes me up at night.

34. Roxette and Eurythmics: DUOs.




35. "The Puzzle Palace" org.: NSA.   I read the preview.

36. D-Day invasion city: ST LO.

37. Draining target?: SWAMP.     Didn't they try that in the Everglades ?  

39. Pressure: HEAT.  

40. Adherent's suffix: ITE.

41. High-tech read: EMAG.   I guess high tech because they are online, or because you read them on a high tech device.  Technology ?  Yes.   High tech ?  

42. "The Power of Now" author Eckhart __: TOLLE.    A quick search tells me he is a spiritual teacher and best selling author.  His 1997 book cited in the clue,  " ... is intended to be a guide for day-to-day living and stresses the importance of living in the present moment and transcending thoughts of the past or future."

47. __ & Chandon Champagne: MOET.

48. Popular U.S. street name: ELM.   There was a nightmare there.

49. Cheese shape: WHEEL.    200 and 220 pound wheels ?   They are huge.   But not this Wisconsin Baby Swiss:

Wisconsin’s Legendary Baby Swiss Cheese

52. Transmission problem: SLIPPAGE.   I had this problem in my Grand Prix, way back when they were large cars.   To save money,  GM decided to put the small Turbo Hydramatic 200 transmission that was developed for the smaller Chevy Vega and Chevy Nova in all their larger cars.   One day it wouldn't move in reverse gear.   I called a transmission shop and they told me to contact the Better Business Bureau.  GM paid for the replacement of a rebuilt 350 transmission.

60. "Get it?" response: I SEE.

61. Mazda MX-5, familiarly: MIATA.    Anonymous PVX tells us:  he has one,  loves it,  and isn't ready to replace it anytime soon.

62. Fly in the ointment: SNAG.

63. Drink garnish: ZEST.   The store was out of Ivory, Dove and Dial bar soaps.  So I bought Zest.  The scent is too much for DW at night.  She had to shut the bathroom door.  Wait.  I take that back.  It was Irish Spring, not Zest.

64. Researcher's aid: INDEX.   The Differences Between Indexes and Scales

65. Besmirches: TARS.    Tars as slang for tarnishes.

Down:

1. Musical pair, commonly: ACTs. 

2. Drench: SOAK.

3. World Golf Hall of Famer Isao: AOKI.   His first and last names are very crossword friendly.

4. Working-class Roman: PLEB.

5. Capital of Pakistan's Punjab province: LAHORE.   Nailed it !

6. Activist Thunberg and actress Scacchi: GRETAs.   Only knew of the former but it was enough to fill in the blanks.

7. Support group?: BRAs.   My wife did not think using her brassières as face masks was too smart.   However, if you search YouTube, you'll find various videos of people using thongs and jock straps.

8. Saigon New Year: TET.

9. NBA div.: QTR.   I had  (blank) T R, and was stumped.  Knew it wasn't CTR, and had to recite the alphabet until I got all the way to Q.   Then it dawned.   An NBA basketball game is divided into four 12 minute quarters. 

10. Place with outpatients: CLINIC. 

11. The last Mrs. Chaplin: OONA.

12. Was forewarned: KNEW.

13. Cork's home: EIRE.

18. Puccini heroine: TOSCA.

19. Winds, in a South American city name: AIRES.   Buenos.

23. Film on water: SCUM.

24. Restaurant in the same corporate group as Applebee's: IHOP.    The corporate group is Dine Brands Global.   However,  they may not be together much longer.   On April 2nd, Reuters reported that activist investment firm JCP Partners filed a proposal urging shareholders to vote FOR having Dine Brands spin off IHOP.   JCP argues that Applebee's has been a drag on corporate earnings.  Shareholders will decide on May 12th.  It may have been fortuitous that this puzzle and clue was published before then.

25. Water holder: BASIN.

26. Decide one will: OPT TO.

27. Vacant, in a way: UNLET.

28. Opposite of paleo-: NEO.

29. Saw: ADAGE.

30. Prepared to talk to a tot, perhaps: KNELT.   

31. Virtual transaction: E-SALE.

32. Zagat, for one: RATER.  Over the years since 1979, the Zagat Guides have reported on and rated restaurants, hotels, nightlife, shopping, zoos, music, movies, theaters, golf courses, and airlines.  Probably not as trusted as it once was.   I used the Michelin Guides in Europe.

Now they are all being supplanted by crowd sourced reviews on apps such as Yelp.   The Yelp ratings are ok, as long as you have a healthy skepticism of reviews that are too glowing or too negative.  That's because crowd sourced restaurant and product reviews are frequent targets of astroturfing by sockpuppets.

37. Bob Hoskins' role in "Hook": SMEE.   He played Smee in 1991's Hook, and in 2011's Neverland.

38. Small flaw: WART.

39. Sweetie: HON.   Terms of endearment. 

41. Name on a historic B-29: ENOLA.  The "Enola Gay" was so named by pilot Colonel Paul Tibbets in honor of his mother. 

42. Beat: TEMPO.

44. Western, e.g.: OMELET.  Wait a minute.  Last week they said it was a Denver omelet.   IHOP has a Colorado Omelet. 

45. Rub out: DELETE.

46. Turning point: CLIMAX.   Years ago I thought the band Climax Blues Band was a later version of the band Climax.    "Precious and Few" was released in 1971 and sung by Sonny Geraci, who five years earlier in 1966 had a hit with the band, The Outsiders.  I'd link that song, but "Time Won't Let Me"

49. Phenom: WHIZ.

50. Cheat: HOSE.

51. Rams' fans?: EWES. 

52. Herring known for its roe: SHAD.

53. Military installation: POST.

54. "Frozen" princess: ANNA.   Voiced, in part, by Kristen Bell.

55. Reverse, say: GEAR.   Have I ever mentioned about my Pontiac Grand Prix that wouldn't move when I shifted gears to R ? 

56. Joule fractions: ERGS.

58. Texter's "I didn't need to know that": TMI.   Too Much Information

59. __ ear: TIN.

Friday, March 27, 2020 Brian Herrick

"Wind Engineering"   "Blowin' In The Wind"    "Wind Shear"

I couldn't pick a title.  Should have stuck with "Windfall"

To get the answers to 1, 5, 36, and 51 across,  you need part of the down answer.  To get the theme, you need part of that same down answer.

1. June event that highlighted Zion in 2019: NBAD. 
4. (down) It's on tap: DRAFT BEER.

NBA DRAFT  - The consensus # 1 pick in the June 2019 NBA Draft was Zion Williamson.  He was selected by the New Orleans Pelicans.

5. Revolt: DISG.
8. (down) "The Planets" composer Holst: GUSTAV. -  Gustav Holst

DISGUST

36. Result of a lost feed: DEAD A.
38. (down) Shoe brand first made for an NBA star: AIR JORDAN.  - NBA star Michael Jordan.

DEAD AIR

51. Deep-fried seafood appetizer: CRAB P.
53. (down) Northern seabird: PUFFIN.

CRAB PUFF  -   Martha Stewart's recipe for 2 dozen.  Any readers have their own recipes ?
 

The reveal:  24. Jackpot, e.g., and a hint to completing four puzzle answers: WINDFALL.

My immediate reaction to the reveal was "What ?"   Windfall means unexpected good fortune.  I got how the down answers fall.  But what about the wind part ?   Then the V8 can that was absent last Friday showed up.  Each of the highlighted answers in red (above) or in yellow (below)... and they all fall.   All winds, of a sort.  Air seems to be the outlier.



Across:

9. Questlove's do: FRO.  If you watch The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, then you would probably know of the musician that leads the house band.

12. "__ is human ... ": TO ERR. 

but to really mess things up you need a computer.  Did I link that .gif  before ?  

14. Asian gambling mecca: MACAU.   We also see it spelled as Macao. 

15. Pasture: LEA.

16. Greek goddesses of the seasons: HORAE.   It's all ? to me.  What is that word I'm missing ?

17. Anglicized name for Australia's Uluru: AYERS ROCK.   Uluru is new to me, but the perps were very generous.    Uluru is the traditional Aboriginal name.   The local Anangu, the Pitjantjatjara people, call the landmark Uluṟu (Pitjantjatjara [ʊlʊɻʊ]).     - Wikipedia

19. Game response that means no: GO FISH.   The card game for children aged 4 to 10.

21. Like mockumentaries: SATIRIC.   The Beatles 1964 feature film debut, A Hard Day's Night, was filmed in mockumentary style: it ostensibly documents a few typical (and highly fictionalized) days in the life of the band as they travel from Liverpool to London for a television appearance.

In television, popular examples in the US include sitcoms Trailer Park Boys and its films (1998–present), Parks and Recreation (2009–2015), The Office (2005-2013), and Modern Family (2009–present); the American improv comedy Reno 911! (2003–2009)   - Wikipedia

22. Sailboat staff: MAST.

23. Sell: HAWK.

25. Disquiet: AGITA.  I would normally first think of agita as indigestion, but it also means anxiety, apprehension, worry, nervousness, etc.  So it can be both a physical and emotional condition.  Disquiet is a synonym.

26. Messy roommate: SLOB.   Oscar Madison ?

27. Oscar winner Kazan: ELIA.

28. Valentine's Day buys: VASES.

29. Parts: ROLES.    For thespians (Hi, OMK !), the character(s) they play.   In business, slang for areas of responsibility (i.e. the different hats one wears).   In reality, no one has more roles to play than women. 

31. Seeing right through: ON TO.

33. "Shame!": TSK.

34. Wannabe: POSEUR.

39. Free from: RID OF.

41. Get ready to play: SUIT UP.   Typically as a sports metaphor. 

45. Tests graded on a scale of 1 to 5: Abbr.: APs. 

48. "Oh __!": insult reaction: SNAP.   Not in my vernacular. 

50. Maine college town: ORONO.   I believe that Hahtoolah mentioned that she went to the University of Maine in Orono.   She graces this blog every Tuesday.

54. Thin opening: SLOT.  I tried slit. 

56. Winnipeg NHLers: JETs.  The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg.  They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division of the Western Conference

57. End of a toast: TO YOU.

58. This is one: CLUE.   Self referential.  Should have been easy for regular solvers. 

59. Texter's "But ... ": OTOH.    Randy Travis was awarded the 1986 Country Music Song of the Year for this song.    Ah, play that steel guitar...


60. To such an extent (as): IN SO FAR. 

62. Thin: NARROW.

64. Connecticut college town: FAIRFIELD.   Fairfield College.  New to me. 

66. "My name is ... " site: ID TAG.   Earl was too short.  Then saw site.  In the sitcom, Earl was always trying to atone for his behavior in years past.  

68. LAX abbr.: ETD. Estimated Time of Delay.  

69. Brainstorms: IDEAs.

70. Disney's "Moana" was translated into it: MAORI.   The language of the indigenous people of New Zealand. 

71. __ gratias: DEO.   Thanks be to God.

72. Second opening?: NANO. 

73. Flanders et al.: NEDs.   "Hi-Diddily-Ho neighborino! What can I ding-dong-diddily-do for you?" 

Down:

1. Utmost degree: NTH.

2. "Electric __": 1984 dance-pop song: BOOGALOO.   Did not know.  But learned that the Boogaloo was a street dance that originated in Oakland, CA in the 1960s.  Then in the late '70s, a dance team developed the "Electric Boogaloo" dance style and called themselves by the same name.   Then in 1984, the music duo of Ollie and Jerry released the song.  Here's a 1980 clip from Soul Train showing the dance team doing Electric Boogaloo style of dancing.   I could not find a video that featured them dancing to the 1984 song. 


3. Sprays from cans: AEROSOLS.

5. __ trip: DAY.

6. Salchow support: ICE SKATE.

7. "Waitress" composer Bareilles: SARA.   I may not understand the clues, but the perps and logic usually work out these answers.

9. User of 28-Across: FLORIST.

10. Speaks from memory: RECITEs. 

11. Winery fixture: OAK CASK.

13. Outdoorsy retailer: REI.   Recreational Equipment, Inc.

14. Island thanks: MAHALO.   "Mahalo for your patience and aloha as we harness our resilience to get through this health crisis together."   In this context, aloha means greetings, rather than the typical hello or goodbye.

18. Baltic capital: RIGA.   A crossword regular.

20. "__ Walks in Beauty": Byron poem: SHE.   Didn't know of the poem.  Knew that Lord Byron was Ada Lovelace's father. 

22. Car ad fig.: MSRP.   The list price.

30. __ generis: SUI.   Along the lines of unique.   In a class by itself.

32. Western treaty gp.: OAS.   Organization of American States.    And a CSO to our regular reader who has been experimenting in the kitchen.

35. Hwys.: RDs.

37. Daft Punk, for one: DUO.    Didn't know, but vaguely recalled a pop or a rap group.  They were French electronic synthopop musicians in the 1990s.   

40. Happening in film: ONSCREEN.

42. In close combat: TOE TO TOE.

43. Hard to work with: UNTOWARD.  Some are advances.

44. Sumptuous: POSH.  One Spice is Posh,  AKA, Victoria Beckham. 

45. Allergy medicine discontinued in the U.S.: ACTIFED.    The druggies were making something out of it to get high. 

46. Rotate inward while walking, as one's foot: PRONATE.   Contrast with supinate.

47. Gets married: SAYS I DO.  Too many blanks for weds.

49. Money symbolized by a stylized L: POUNDS.    £

52. Crude dude: BOOR.   First thought was a roughneck.   An oilfield worker.

55. Afternoon __: TEA.

61. John/Rice musical: AIDA.   Crosswords taught me that Aida usually has a Verdi clue.  But in this case, it's Elton John and Tim Rice.  Who knew ?

63. Edge: RIM.   I use Edge shaving cream.  The rim of the can often starts to rust before the cream is all gone.  Maybe I should go back to that "no-eczema" brand that Joe Namath used to tout. 

65. Southeast Asian language: LAO. 

67. PFCs, e.g.: GIs.

Friday, March 13, 2020 Winston Emmons

"PR Blitz"

Winston puts a PR spin on some common phrases in this fairly easy Friday solve.



17. "It's been a while since I shopped till I dropped"?: LONG TIME NO SPREE.   
LONG TIME NO SEE.

27. Pastoral exhortation to a graffiti artist?: SPRAY THE WORD.
SAY THE WORD.

48. Bargain hunter's forte?: PRICE FISHING.
ICE FISHING.

62. Trojan king struck dumb?: PRIAM SPEECHLESS.
I AM SPEECHLESS.

69. Ad guy responsible for four long puzzle answers?: PR MAN.


What's the difference between a rat and a squirrel ?

PR.

Despite being a fairly easy Friday solve,  miscues were made along the way.   Gotta get out of the habit of just throwing in the first crosswordese answer that pops into my head.
Sometimes it works:
- 4 letters to fill with a Norse clue would be either ODIN, Loki, or Thor.  ODIN popped in first.
And sometimes it doesn't:
- 5 letters to fill "Present to an audience" was not orate.  STAGE better fits the clue.

Fortunately, none of the initial errors created an insurmountable logjam.

Across:

1. 2019 Pan American Games city: LIMA.  "Best Pan American Games ever" and  A New World Record in Archery

5. Present to an audience: STAGE.   Orate flew off the fingertips.   After a few seconds, the backspace key erased the letters.

10. Nat's hat: CAP.   MLB's Washington Nationals / baseball cap.

13. Norse deity: ODIN.

14. Syndicated show, say: RERUN.  21 Interesting Facts About Television Syndication

15. Smooth-talking: OILY.  Threw in glib. 

20. Revise: ALTER.   Not amend today...

21. Bud: PAL. 

22. Annually: A YEAR.   Once a year is enough. 

23. __ Cruces: LAS.    Zoom in, zoom out.


25. Convent figure: ABBESS.

32. Belgian __: ALE.    Chimay Grande Reserve is worth every penny. 

33. Special ops acronym: SEAL.  SEa, Air, and Land. 

34. Some bank jobs: HEISTs.   I associate this word with the original "The Italian Job" starring Michael Caine.   Actually, both heist and caper.

38. Lack: WANT.   Here you go, Wilbur Charles !

For Want of a Nail

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

40. Set down: PLACE.

42. Bender: TOOT.   Didn't know of toot as a synonym of bender (drinking spree), but know of a  bender as a tool.   Here's one for bending EMT thin wall.   The Building (electrical) Code requires metal conduit here in Cook and DuPage counties.

Double checked to make sure that second T was correct. 

43. Meddles: SNOOPs.

45. Pack (down): TAMP.

47. Mauna __: LOA.  Tried Kea.

51. Moby-Dick, e.g.: ALBINO.

53. Vote in favor: AYE.  Had the right letters in the wrong order with yea.

54. Many Oscar night attendees: STARs.

55. Sun, for one: ORB.

58. Social division: CASTE.

65. Sources of cones: FIRs.    Plants that bear cones are conifers.  Conifers doesn't fit.   Firs and yews fit.   Firs matched the crosses.

66. Dabbling ducks: TEALs.

67. Cable car: TRAM.

68. Fabled beast: ASS.

70. Roll call call: HERE.

Down:

1. Kinks title woman with "a dark brown voice": LOLA.   Jinx linked Lola just a few days ago, so here's another Kinks hit:


Dave Davies slit the amplifier speaker to produce the distinctive sound.

2. Word after fallen or false: IDOL.

3. Like new: MINT.  Often used in coin grading.

4. Actress Kinsey of "The Office": ANGELA.   She played Angela Martin.  Recognized  the character after looking up the actor's name for the review. 

5. Asian honorific: SRI.  Shri, Shree, Sri, or Sree, is an Indian word denoting wealth and prosperity, primarily used as a honorific.

6. Census worker, for one: TEMP. 

7. Location: AREA.  Not site.

8. Legislation that varies from state to state: GUN LAW.

9. Eclectic musician Brian: ENO.

10. Prepare for print: COPYEDIT.   "I say copyedit, you say copy edit"

11. Buenos __: AIRES.

12. Earnest requests: PLEAs.

16. "__ Blues": Beatles "White Album" song: YER.   My least favorite of the White Album tracks.

18. Cafeteria stack: TRAYs.

19. Buffalo skater: SABRE.   Canadian Eh should be happy with the British English spelling.

24. Intervenes: STEPS IN.

26. Prague's region: BOHEMIA.

27. Maxims: SAWs.

28. It often undergoes changes: PLAN.

29. First female attorney general: RENO.  Janet Reno at Biography.com

30. Burt's musical collaborator: HAL.   Bacharach and David.   You know their songs.   Here's someone's Top Ten Ranking.   As expected, Dionne Warwick figures prominently in the hit songs.

31. Send: ELATE.   Some readers may be old enough to remember this song:



35. Arias, usually: SOLI.

36. Animation product: TOON.

37. Unattached: STAG.   Not solo.

39. Joint Chiefs, for example: TOP BRASS.   Pentagon bigwigs.

41. Joltin' joe?: CAF.   I've never heard of just "caf", but have heard of half-caf.    Accepted it since it fit. Later googled.    Not sure that this is what the clue is referencing, but there's a veteran owned company named Black Rifle Coffee that has a brand name,  CAF,  that "...delivers twice the caffeine punch of an average coffee with a rich smoky flavor.   Made for the professional coffee drinker..."    Twice the caffeine ?   Yes, I'd say that's a cup of joltin' joe !  They're getting a little unanticipated PR here. 

Perhaps CAF is commonly used when ordering at Central Perk or Café Nervosa or Starbucks or Peet's ?   I know for sure that I've been in a coffee shop on two occasions, but there may have been a third time. 

44. Refracting polyhedron: PRISM. 

46. Intimidate mentally, with "out": PSYCH.

49. "The Last of the Mohicans" author: COOPER.    Cooper crafted a unique form of literature writing historical romances about frontier and Indian life.

50. Toast word: HEALTH.

51. Heart chambers: ATRIA.

52. Hideouts: LAIRs.

54. Banana Boat letters: SPF.   Sun Protection Factor.

56. Copy room unit: REAM.

57. One sometimes seen with Boris: BELA.   Karloff and Lugosi. 

59. Withered: SERE.

60. Romanov title: TSAR.  

61. Salinger character who says, "I prefer stories about squalor": ESME.

63. "The Racer's Edge": STP.   Scientifically Treated Petroleum.

64. Gp. that sometimes has an added "Y":  CSN.  Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) are an occasional folk rock supergroup made up of American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills, and English singer-songwriter Graham Nash.   They are titled Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY) when joined by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young as a fourth member.  

An example without:


An example with:





Check your grid here:

Friday, February 28, 2020 Mark MacLachlan

"BR EXIT"


18. Power of a Hummer?: UTE FORCE.  Brute force

23. Enormous card revealed at end of magician's routine?: ACE FOR IMPACT.  Brace for impact

38. Tattoo depicting the last woolly mammoth?: INK OF EXTINCTION.  Brink of extinction

47. Avian mascot on a refueling vessel?: OILER CHICKEN.  Broiler chicken

57. Hotel employee who only works one day a month?: IDES MAID.  Brides maid


68. Subject of a 2016 U.K. referendum, and a hint to five puzzle answers: BREXIT.  Parse it as BR Exit.

I liked this puzzle.  Drop the Br from the commonly known phrases and redefine the remnants.

Initially couldn't figure out any of the theme answers due to good cluing and a few crossing unknowns.   Then got IDES MAID but didn't think too much about it.   A few moments later, got BREXIT and then knew the game.   Add Br back in and fill in the rest of the common phrase.   Nice !

This is Mark's fifth puzzle.  One each year starting in 2016.   I looked back at each.

"C Battery" Sunday March 26, 2016

"Three Little Letters" Wednesday April 5, 2017

"Iron In" Friday September 28, 2018

"Code Crackers" Sunday July 14, 2019


Mark is a chemistry professor at the University of British Columbia.    Using my code cracking skills (not very refined), I see a pattern: 

• Add C (the chemical element symbol for Carbon).    
• Add Fe (the chemical element symbol for Iron).    
• Drop Br (the chemical element symbol for Bromine).  

Every other one of his puzzles is going to have wordplay based on an element symbol !


I don't recall the Friday puzzle and had no comments that day, but of the other three it appears I only aced one.   It would have been one for four if not for perp saves on  SPIFF,  ON THE DL,  ETOILE and SEN-SEN. 

Hope you had fun solving it !


Across:

1. Big divides: CHASMs.    Ideological divides: Schisms.

7. Vat sediment: LEES.   Dregs.  Speaking of remnants...

11. Swindler: CON.

14. Aid, as a fallen teammate: HELP UP.    And, 23D: Give a hand: ASSIST.

15. Munch Museum city: OSLO.  Dedicated to the life and works of the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch.  The new museum opens in the fall of this year.

16. Crazy Eights relative: UNO.

17. Connected: ONLINE.

20. Greek group: FRAT.

22. Discreetly, in slang: ON THE DL.   Down Low.

27. Form fig.: SSN.

28. Fictional anchor Nessman: LES.

29. Goes apace: HIEs. 

33. "Your point being?": SOO.    An informal,  and perhaps confrontational or condescending  "What is your point ?"     Elongate so.    Why drag it out ?

34. __ 51: AREA.

36. The slightest bit: A TASTE.

41. Avoids: SKIRTs.   Sidesteps.

42. Muslim leader: IMAM.

43. Carol contraction: TIS.    No,  Tinbeni,  the lyrics to "Deck The Halls" do not have the verse,  "Tis the season to drink Stoli" but it does have a nice ring to it.

44. Immobilize with a charge: TASE.

45. "Moby-Dick" setting: SEA.   Hardly a favorite here.

46. Bullring bravo: OLE.

Ole wore both of his winter jackets when he painted his house last July.   The directions on the can said "put on two coats".

Sven says to Ole "I found dis pen, is it yours?"
Ole replies, "Don't know, give it here" 
He then tries it and says, "Yes it is"
Sven asks "How do you know?"
Ole replies, "Dat's my handwriting!"

53. Three on a match, they say: BAD OMEN.   Bad luck is what I knew.

56. Ikea purchase: SOFA.  Some of their brands include  Kivik, Ektorp, Klippan, Friheten and  Balkarp.  These are the kinds of words I would need if I were creating a crossword.   

59. Acted greenly?: REUSED.

63. It usually needs breaking: TIE.   Last year's Scripps National Spelling Bee ended in an 8-way tie.   The final eight went 20 straight rounds of spelling without any errors.  The Bee simply ran out of predetermined words to sufficiently challenge these children.   Each co-champion took home the $50K first place prize.  The Bee is taking steps to reduce the number of entrants to the final, and searching for new lists of words that are even harder to spell.

What word in the dictionary is always spelled incorrectly ?   

64. 1968 self-named folk album: ARLO.   Arlo Guthrie, known for singing songs of protest and about social injustice. - Wikipedia.

65. Stands in a studio: EASELs.   Bob Ross used them on his program... 

66. Wrap up: END.   "That's a cut !"

67. Changes to green, say: DYEs.   Sounds Eco.

Down:

1. Comic Margaret: CHO.    Not my cuppa.

2. Egg producer: HEN.

3. The lot: ALL.   Lock, stock and barrel.   Everything. 

4. Calvin's spaceman alter ego, in comics: SPIFF.   Spaceman Spiff  at Fandom.

5. Literature Nobelist Alice: MUNRO.   "Munro’s stories reveal her as a consummate artist who is without question among the most accomplished masters of the short story."  - Nobelprize.orjg

6. Weapon for Goliath: SPEAR.    Asparagus, broccoli or pickle ?

7. Teammate of Babe: LOU.    Ruth and Gehrig, respectively.  Numbers 3 and 4 on their jerseys and on your Yankees lineup card.

8. Legally prevents: ESTOPs.

9. Justice Kagan: ELENA.

10. Cymbal sound?: SOFT C.

11. "Friday I'm in Love" band, with "The": CURE.    A British band that scored a top 10 pop hit with that song.   No idea.  Perps.

12. Saved, in a way: ON CD.  

13. Holiday song: NOEL.

19. "Ah, I see what you meant": OH, THAT.

21. Household cleaning brand: TILEX.

24. Dolphins Hall of Famer Larry: CSONKA.   Talk about brute force.   The big bruising fullback was the featured running back in the ball-control ground-game offense of Don Shula's undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins.  Jim Kiick and fleet-footed Mercury Morris shared the halfback duties.

25. Japanese mushrooms: ENOKIs.

26. More substantial: MEATIER.

30. "Will this work for you?": IS IT OK ?

31. French star: ETOILE.   étoile definition is - a star or a pattern in the shape of a star. Merriam-Webster.

32. Longtime breath freshener: SEN-SEN.   Me too, Carrie, me too.

34. Back to a mate: AFT.   As in the stern (back) of a ship and a crewman (mate).

35. Dorm, briefly: RES.   Residential quarters.

36. Gasteyer of "SNL" (1996-2002): ANA.     What do Ana Gasteyer,  Jane Curtain,  Brad Hall,  Gary Kroeger,  Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Seth Meyers all have in common ?  They are all former members of SNL that attended Northwestern University.

37. Network for film buffs: TCM.  Turner Classic Movies.

39. Chocolatey Post cereal: OREOOS.

40. Apple models: IMACs.

45. Declining due to age: SENILE.

48. "Grr!": I'M MAD.

49. Comic Denis: LEARY.

50. Biblical mount: HOREB.

51. "The bad news is ... ": I FEAR.   Spellcheck can only do so much.  The user still needs to have a clue.   This one probably didn't make it out of the first round in the school's spelling bee.

52. It might have a champion: CAUSE.

53. Sound __: BITE.

54. Score after deuce: AD IN.

55. Monopoly card: DEED.

58. Mexican pair: DOS.  uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez.

60. __ roles: SEX.   Gender roles.

61. Inventor Whitney: ELI.    The History of Interchangeable Parts in the Industrial Revolution

62. Summer hrs.: DST.

Here's the grid:

Note from C.C.:

Just another reminder for the Cru Dinner again, which will be held on Friday, March 20, 2020 (6:00pm to 8:00pm) and officially kick off the 43rd ACPT. The space is limited, so please contact with Mike Alpern as soon as possible. Mike's email address is: alpernm@aol.com

Here is more detailed information.

Friday, February 7, 2020 Andrew Linzer

"SOCIAL GATHERINGS"


20. Soirée for woodchip manufacturers?: SPLINTER PARTY.    Splinter group just flew off my fingertips.  Bzzt !

26. Soirée for certain divers?: PEARL JAM.


37. Soirée for spreadsheet creators?: CELL RECEPTION.

47. Soirée for fake coin makers?: SLUGFEST.

55. Soirée for army enlistees?: PRIVATE AFFAIR.

LET'S SOIRÉE ! - The last word of each theme answer is a type of social gathering.  OK, slugfest is one word, but you get the idea.

This is Andrew's third LA Times puzzle.   His first was a Wednesday.    His second was a Thursday.     He's back to party with us on Friday ! 


Across:

1. Component of an Olympic bronze medal: ZINC.    The metals used in this year's Olympic medals have been primarily sourced from recycled electronics.   Japanese citizens donated over 6 million discarded and unused cell phones ! 

5. Off-road vehicle maker?: TONKA.

10. Peddle: HAWK.   First thought was sell.

14. Brand in a studio, maybe: IKEA.   Studio apartment.

15. Chooser's choice: EVENs.

16. Onetime capital of the Mughal Empire: AGRA.   It was the first four letter city name that came to mind.   Never did think of a second city name...

17. Seats facing the altar: PEWs.

18. Alley button: RESET.    Boomer uses this button when the rack didn't set the pins down correctly.   He also uses it to clear the pins left standing after the prior bowler finished (e.g. after a third ball in the 10th frame.)

19. Genesis problem: RAIN.   CAIN was a problem too.    Just not with the perps in this puzzle.

23. Energized: AMPED.

25. Inspection: LOOK SEE.  Formal and then informal.

30. Govt. stipend: SSI.   Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a Federal income supplement program funded by general tax revenues (not Social Security taxes):

	It is designed to help aged, blind, and disabled people, who have little or no income; and
	It provides cash to meet basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter.

31. Angel dust letters: PCP.   Phencyclidine (PCP) is a mind-altering drug that may lead to hallucinations (a profound distortion in a person’s perception of reality). - Drugs.com

32. Neural transmitter: AXON.

34. Powerful 2017 hurricane: IRMA.

41. Solo number: ARIA.

42. Gear for Lindsey Vonn: SKIs.   American former World Cup alpine ski racer on the US Ski Team.   She won four World Cup overall championships—one of only two female skiers to do so, along with Annemarie Moser-Pröll—with three consecutive titles in 2008, 2009, and 2010, plus another in 2012 - Wikipedia

As an aside, Lindsey and I both skied Garmisch.   She won multiple world competition level Super G and Downhill races there.  I won a bunny hill slalom competition among the other beginner students held at the Armed Forces Recreation Center there.   I'll lean on that as a conversation starter if I ever meet her.   Still remember the AFRCS instructor.  Glenna Bliss.  I believe she was a prior member of the US Ski Team.  

43. Service reward: TIP.

45. PETA concern: FUR.

50. Need for big dos: CATERER.

54. Spherical extremities: POLEs.

59. Green hue: LIME.   Not exactly lime, is it ?   But too cool to pass up.

60. Louvre Pyramid architect: IM PEI.   How I.M. Pei’s Louvre Pyramid Broke the Mold

61. Chatroom spammers: BOTs.    They've been pounding this blog lately, but most are routed to the moderation folder.

64. Manipulates: USEs.

65. Really funny ones: RIOTs.

66. City-circumventing road: LOOP.   Loop 610:

67. Hot message: SEXT.

68. American in Paris, perhaps: EX PAT.

69. One of 11 for Julia Louis-Dreyfus: EMMY.

Down:

1. 12345, for Schenectady, NY: ZIP.   Evan Kalish knows this.  Postlandia

2. Turner on a turntable: IKE.   Rolling Stone magazine ranked Ike and Tina Turner at # 2 of the "20 Greatest Duos of All Time" in 2015.  # 1 were the Everly Brothers.  I'd never heard of some of the duos.  

3. Times, at times: NEWSPAPER. 

4. Spirited toon?: CASPER.

5. Actress Hatcher: TERI.

6. "Top Chef" set piece: OVEN.

7. Building project for cranes?: NEST.

8. Get down to earth?: KNEEL.

9. First pro team to play on artificial turf: ASTROs.   It was 1965.   NY Yankee Mickey Mantle hit the first homerun in a spring exhibition game shortly after construction ended.   Dick Allen of the Phillies hit the first regular season homerun.   The natural grass died, and was replaced by the first iteration of Astroturf for the 1966 season.

10. Samurai ritual: HARAKIRI.   No images.   Doesn't pass the breakfast test.

11. Lab gelatins: AGARs.

12. Pen: WRITE.

13. GOOD Music record label founder: KANYE.    Kanye West created the GOOD Music record label in 2004.   It is a backronym for Getting Out Our Dreams.

21. Cholesterol letters: LDL.   Waited to see if HDL (high-density lipoproteins - the "good" one), or LDL (low-density lipoproteins - the "bad" one).

22. Presume: POSIT.

23. Common 99-cent purchase: APP.

24. Hajji's destination: MECCA.

27. Potter's creation: JAR.

28. Plot lines: AXES.   Thought of  arcs at first , but that's more of story lines.

29. Imitates derisively: MOCKs.

33. "American Gods" author Gaiman: NEIL.   No idea.  Perps.

35. Traveler's overnight spot: MOTEL ROOM.   Waited to see if Motel or Hotel.

36. Seasoning seed: ANISE.   Anise, also called aniseed, is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to the eastern Mediterranean region and Southwest Asia. Its flavor has similarities with some other spices, such as star anise, fennel, and liquorice. -  Wikipedia

38. Buoyant protection: LIFEVEST.

39. Actress Dern of "Twin Peaks": LAURA.

40. Sch. with a Harrisburg campus: PSU.   Penn State University.  

44. NBA stat: PTS.   Points.

46. Hang up the spikes: RETIRE.    Hung up mine in 2015.

48. 2.3, perhaps: Abbr.: GPA.    Grade Point Average.

49. Slight character flaw: FOIBLE.

50. 2.3, roughly: C PLUS.   Grade

51. Come up: ARISE.

52. Big name in stopwatches: TIMEX.   John Cameron Swayze told us, "It takes a licking and keeps on ticking" and the TV ads seemed to prove it.


53. Compilation album add-on: REMIX.

56. Per item: APOP.

57. Spanakopita cheese: FETA.

58. Solidarity symbol: FIST.

62. First of a generic trio: TOM.   Tom, Dick and Harry.   Hi Tom !

63. Expert on bugs?: SPY.   Bugs are covert listening and recording devices.