Thursday, October 10th 2019 Kevin Christian.

Theme: Bent-o Boxes - BENT is, well BENT in each of the theme entries:

16A. Participated in a pub crawl: WENT BAR HOPPING. There is a Tube line in London which runs in a circle around town, called, very appropriately, the Circle Line. Back in my day, there were 27 stations on the continuous loop, and the "Circle Line Pub Crawl" was to ride the train for one lap, get off at each station and drink half a pint of beer at the nearest pub to the station. Back then, some stations actually had a bar on the platform, so that made life easy. For those of you doing the math, that meant downing thirteen-and-a-half pints during the ride.

24A. "Shadows of the Night" Grammy winner: PAT BENATAR. When I was a callow youth, never having seen her, I thought she was a guy. Women rockers were unusual in prehistoric times. Bass guitarist and Detroit bad-ass pop icon Suzi Quatro put me straight on the matter when I was around 13.

37A. Placating words before a confession: DON'T BE MAD ... I don't believe the placation has worked, ever. There's always a kicker too - "Don't me mad, I ran over the dog, but I got you a NEW PUPPY!"

53A. New and improved: EVEN BETTER. A new and improved family dog?

61A. Upset ... and what can be found in the four other longest answers?: BENT OUT OF SHAPE. Especially when the family dog has joined the choir celestial due to careless spousal driving.

Across:

1. Gold rush storyteller Bret: HARTE. All crosses, this made the north-west a struggle. A question - why do we refer to the "Pacific North-West" when describing that part of the country? I don't see many other north-wests?

6. Saints' org.: NFL The New Orleans Saints of the National Football League, he said, in an official tone.

9. Word pronounced like its middle letter: ARE.

12. "The Lion in Winter" co-star: O'TOOLE. For no good reason, I had GARP at 13D, so this was a struggle. I was puzzled that I didn't remember Costner in the movie. Eventually reason prevailed.

14. Senator Lisa Murkowski, notably: ALASKAN

18. Cleanse (of): RID

19. Afore: ERE "Able was I ere I saw Elba". Poor Napoleon, reduced to a palindrome, a complex and a cookie.

20. Video game pioneer: ATARI

22. Sch. playing home games in the Sun Bowl: U.T.E.P. Although I know full well that the Sun Bowl is in Texas, my left brain could not stop my knee-jerk-impulse brain filling in "UTAH" here. More corrective action required. Sorry, El Paso.

28. Numbs, as senses: DULLS

30. Bilingual TV explorer: DORA

31. File menu command: SAVE

32. Seiko Group printers: EPSONS. Had to wait a little for this one. With "----NS" in place, Canon and Epson had equal dibs on the fill.

34. Mountain myth: YETI

36. Flower location: BED

40. The Eiger, for one: ALP. Any Yeti in the Alps, or do they stick to being unproven in the Himalaya?

43. Scott who played Chachi: BAIO

44. Supplement: ENRICH

48. Snowblower brand: TORO. Pure guess, but "T" seemed to set things in motion. We see leaf blowers around here more than the snow cousins.

50. Schedule: PLAN. There's some English words I can't remember how to pronounce now depending on which side of the pond I'm on - this is one of them - SKED- or SHED-?

52. "Borat" star __ Baron Cohen: SACHA

56. Vegetable with Golden and Chioggia varieties: BEET. Food! (Sort of!). I know golden beets - Chioggia not so much.

57. San __, California: MATEO. One of the Bay Area bridges too.

58. "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" singer Chris: REA

60. __-di-dah: LAH

66. Nonworking time: LEISURE

67. Twain of country: SHANIA. I'd already got "HAT HAIR", so that required a rethink. A few do-overs today.

68. Bigger copy: Abbr.: ENL.argement.

69. Place to retire: INN. You have to drink thirteen-and-a-half pints before they let you go to bed though.

70. Over: ENDED

Down:

1. Indignant reaction: HOW RUDE!

2. Savored the flattery: ATE IT UP

3. Short poems: RONDELS. I had a N and an S. In went SONNETS. I was way too impulsive today. Here's Henry Austin Dobson having a crack at a rondel c.1877:

Love comes back to his vacant dwelling,

      The old, old Love that we knew of yore!

      We see him stand by the open door,

    With his great eyes sad, and his bosom swelling.

    He makes as though in our arms repelling

      He fain would lie as he lay before;

    Love comes back to his vacant dwelling,

      The old, old Love that we knew of yore!

    Ah ! who shall help us from over-spelling

      That sweet, forgotten, forbidden lore?

      E'en as we doubt, in our hearts once more,

    With a rush of tears to our eyelids welling,

    Love comes back to his vacant dwelling

4. Playdate participant: TOT

5. Hamburg's river: ELBE. "Eble was I 'ere I saw Elbe". "Eble" means "The condition of a person who has never visited Hamburg, nor seen its river". Apparently. Not.

6. "I don't wanna": NAH

7. Woman in Progressive ads: FLO. Is the character now moving beyond "irritating" to "mute the TV?"

8. One of 12 on a sitting jury?: LAP. Clever. 12 jurors sitting, making one lap each.

9. Tough dogs: AKITAS

10. Deferred payment at the pub: RAN A TAB. You can't do that on a pub crawl.

11. Impress deeply?: ENGRAVE

13. 1994 Costner role: EARP. So not GARP then? OK.

15. Go over: SPAN

17. Get lost in a book: READ

21. Ticked off: IRED. Nahhhh, c'mon, you're pulling me leg 'ere Guv'nor. There ain't no word "IRED" Mary Poppins! Unless, o' course, yer 'iring me to sweep yer chimney!

OK, enough of that. I haven't been on a pub crawl, honest, guv.

23. Lumber (along): PLOD

25. Bath time plaything: TOY BOAT. I had a toy deep sea diver when I was a kid, complete with helmet, dry suit, weighted boots and air supply. Sadly he was 12 inches tall, and there's not much more than 12 inches of water in a bathtub, so he didn't do much.

26. "Grimm" actress Turner: BREE

27. Wonderland cake words: EAT ME.

29. Elitist sort: SNOB

33. Harry Potter's potions teacher: SNAPE. Severus, brought to the screen by the fine, and sadly departed, Alan Rickman.

35. Fleming and Holm: IANS. I used to work for Fleming's, a private bank in London which was founded by the family. The bank had the largest collection of Scottish art in private hands, much of which was on display in the building. We had a bagpiper serenade us into work between 8:30 and 9. If you missed the piper, you were late. On the upside, the bank had its own pub, called the Scottish Pound.

38. Incline: TILT

39. Hardly lively: DRAB

40. "Lemme __!": AT 'EM

41. Precious: LOVABLE. One meaning of precious.

42. Many a middle schooler: PRE-TEEN

45. Most sparsely populated European country: ICELAND. But a footballing powerhouse despite only having a population of 300,000 and a coach who is a part-time dentist.

46. Inexpensive knockoff: CHEAPIE

47. Consequence of wearing a cap too long: HAT HEAD

49. Low soccer score: ONE NIL. And the score by which Iceland (reminder, population 300,000) beat England (population sixty-odd million) in the European Championships in 2016 to dump England out of the competition and force the resignation of the coach.

51. Sleuth Wolfe: NERO

54. Some spammers: BOTS. 

55. Two-legged zebras: REFS

59. 1975 Wimbledon winner: ASHE

62. Non's opposite: OUI

63. Coffee server: URN

64. Phil Rizzuto's retired number: TEN. Yankee shortstop "The Scooter". Why? No idea, ask C.C. (Steve: "Holy cow!")

65. Chewie's pal: HAN. Star Wars, Chewbacca the Wookie and Han Solo. The clue isn't really "correct" though - Chewie was a nickname, Han was Solo's first name. Details, details.

Right, that wraps it up for me. Onwards and gridwards!

Steve

Note from C.C.:

As Lemonade mentioned a few times, tomorrow's write-up will be unique. Be sure to come back and celebrate the special occasion of a blog favorite.

Thursday, October 3rd 2019 Jeff Stillman

Theme: Black Thursday - today's puzzle features some deep-discount bargains:

17A. Feature of an American flag purchased with 58-Across?: TWENTY-FIVE STARS. The Stars and Stripes as it would have appeared today if Arkansas was the last state to join the union back in 1836.

29A. Sidney Lumet film purchased with 58-Across?: SIX ANGRY MEN. If there were only six angry men, the verdict would have been "Guilty" - Henry Fonda, who cast the initial 'not guilty" vote was Juror #8. A great movie.

44A. Freight vehicle purchased with 58-Across?: NINE-WHEELER. That would make things a little lop-sided. An eighteen-wheeler actually has ten wheels, but eighteen rims and tires, just to keep things interesting. Here's two wheels, but four rims and tires:

and the unifier:

58A. Sales incentive: FIFTY PERCENT OFF. Here's a patriotic sign with 13 stars - let's call it the "Rhode Island" sales event:

Fun theme from Jeff, I got the themers before the reveal, so that's always nice. Good, solid fill too. Let's see what pops out:

Across:

1. Collect: AMASS. I've amassed quite a collection of cooking equipment over the years. I do follow the advice of Alton Brown and avoid any "single use" gadget, they take up too much space for their one function. Do you really need a garlic press, something to chop herbs with that isn't a knife or a melon baller when you already have measuring spoon the same size?

6. Stag: HART. Many pubs in England are called "The White Hart". The most common pub name in the UK is "The Red Lion". I've been to this "White Hart" in Overton, Hampshire:

10. Diminished gradually, with "off": WORE

14. Lake between the Silver State and Golden State: TAHOE. Gambling on the east side, weed on the west side. Pick your poison.

15. Promise, for one: OLEO. This confused me for a few moments, but remembered "Promise" is a brand of margarine.

16. Operation Solomon airline: EL AL. I didn't know the back story, but not hard to guess.

20. Raina Telgemeier graphic novel about a girl with braces: SMILE. Stab in the dark here, but when a couple of letters were provided by crosses, it wasn't hard to fill in the blanks.

21. Breeder's income source: STUD FEE

22. Names as a source: CITES. It's nice to receive a citation as a source, less pleasant to receive one for a traffic violation (or so I hear, I've never had one myself .... he lied).

25. Fizzy prefix: AER-

26. Decryption org.: N.S.A. National Security Agency, I always want to call it the National Spy Agency, but the CIA has dibs on that one.

34. Regatta racer: YACHT. I'm not sure when it was when I stopped trying to spell "yacht" with a "g' in there somewhere, but it was a happy day.

36. Paint store selections: HUES. I need to check out the hues at my local hardware store, I need to repaint my "hobby" room, I managed to overspray weathering paint onto the walls, not smart. They need a refresh anyway, so a good time.

37. Ristorante bottle: VINO. "In vino, veritas" according to the Romans. "In wine, truth". A poetic way to describe drunk texting, which rarely has a positive outcome.

38. Mandolin kin: LUTES

39. Loved, with "up": ATE

40. Dasani product: WATER. Dasani makes water? I doubt it. I think they bottle and sell it.

41. Carbon monoxide's lack: ODOR

42. Iditarod racer: SLED. Not for much longer if the planet keeps warming. It'll be a water-skier pulled by knee-deep huskies before too long.

43. Capital of Ghana: ACCRA

47. Coal scuttle: HOD. I'm more familiar with a hod being used to carry bricks to a bricklayer during construction of a wall. Same concept though.

48. "I have an idea!": AHA! It better be a good one.

49. Silas of the Continental Congress: DEANE. A little obscure, this one. The representatives of the original thirteen colonies (with the exception of Georgia) during the Revolutionary War formed the Continental Congress. Deane was one of the representatives from Connecticut, and is the only Silas I've heard of other than the Silas Marner of literature.

51. Deals with freebies: TWO-FERS. Same as 50% off! My local Ralph's market, part of the Kroger empire, have regular BOGO offers (Buy One, Get One) in the meat and seafood department. I can never resist those deals.

55. Museo Leonardiano city: VINCI. It would be odd if Vinci had a museum dedicated to any other Italian.

62. Everyone, in Essen: ALLE.

63. Mideast bigwig: EMIR

64. Mill input: GRIST. Grist for the mill - flour comes out, the chaff is blown away. I think.

65. "All in the Family" producer Norman: LEAR. If you say so, thank you, crosses.

66. Donnybrook: RIOT. From the Donnybrook Fair, first held 1204 in Dublin. It is sometimes described as "notoriously disorderly", but we're talking Irish, beer and fourteen days of festivities. It's small wonder that things occasionally got a little out of hand. I'm of Irish descent, so I can say that. The phrase "I went to a fight, but a wake broke out" is not spoken without a certain basis in fact. Donnybrook Fair can sound quite pleasant, according to an 18th century poem penned by that bard of prolific output, "Anon".

To Donnybrook steer, all you sons of Parnassus

Poor painters, poor poets, poor newsmen, poor knaves

To see what the fun is that all fun surpasses

The sorrow and sadness of green Erin's slaves

O Donnybrook, jewel, full of mirth is your quiver

Where all flock from Dublin to gape and to stare

At two elegant bridges, without e'er a river

So success to the humours of Donnybrook Fair

67. Church council: SYNOD

Down:

1. QB's stat: ATT. Pass attempts in American Football.

2. Big mouths: MAWS

3. Word of disapproval: AHEM

4. Sega's hedgehog: SONIC. Video game character of legend.

5. Band concert guides: SET LISTS. People collect them. Here's a "Joshua Tree" tour set list from U2 when I saw them at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena:

6. Cooperstown inst.: H.O.F. Hall Of Fame. Baseball, in Cooperstown's case.

7. "Rope-a-dope" boxer: ALI. He was "roping" Joe Frazier.

8. Races: REVS as in one's engine.

9. "CSI" IDs: TOE TAGS

10. Multi-use workshop tool: WET-DRY VAC. I'm not sure it's "multi-use" - it's a vacuum, it just vacuums a lot of different stuff.

11. Elsa and Anna's snowman pal: OLAF. From the "Frozen" movie, I never saw it, but I hear it's good.

12. Medium __: RARE. The "gold standard" for steak done-ness.

13. Besides that: ELSE

18. Mysterious Himalayan: YETI

19. Litigious type: SUER. Is that a word?

23. Yoga instruction: EXHALE

24. Cooked in a skillet: SAUTÉED

26. Guitar string option: NYLON. Steel guitar strings for me. Don't nylon ones go out of tune all the time?

27. King Salman, for one: SAUDI. Thank you, crosses.

28. Do something in response to: ACT ON

30. Tease: NEEDLE

31. Deadpan comic Hedberg: MITCH. More crosses.

32. Summer month in South America: ENERO. January

33. Annual Santa tracker: NORAD. North American Aerospace Defense Command. Super nice folks at Christmas.

35. From now on: HEREAFTER. I tried EVER AFTER, but that obviously didn't work out too well.

40. Alarms: WARNINGS

42. More on the ball: SHARPER

45. Miss Muffet fare: WHEY. I prefer curds, myself.

46. Outer wall protector: EAVE

50. Vestibule, e.g.: ENTRY

51. Nonstick kitchen brand: T-FAL

52. Sly trick: WILE

53. "Man __ Mancha": OF LA

54. Frozen Four game: SEMI. Final Four too, and every other sport in a knockout format.

56. Invent, in a way: COIN. To coin a phrase ...

57. "That being the case ... ": IF SO ...

59. Brazilian hot spot: RIO. I've been lucky enough to have had a few trips to Rio, a city of contrasts and some quite wonderful sights, sounds and food!

60. Old PC monitor: CRT. The old Cathode Ray Tube. Poor Cathode and Ray, they were the darlings of the tech business for so long, now long consigned to recycle (hopefully) or landfull (less pleasant).

61. Co. with a bouquet in its logo: FTD. "Florists's Transworld Delivery" to be posh. The UK branding was "Interflora". Same logo though.

And with the winged feet of Eros [edit - sorry, Mercury] and a bunch of flowers, I'll leave you with the grid.

Steve

Thursday, September 26th 2019 David Poole

Theme: Spooked: Two government agencies facing off across the great idealogical crossword divide.

As the reveal, diplomatically placed in the center tells us:

23D. Long-running Mad feature suggested by this puzzle's circled letters: SPY VS. SPY

A great theme from David, the circles reveal CIA, appropriately on the West side of the puzzle, and KGB, aptly, on the East.

There's a lot to like about this theme, simple on the surface, but a little more when you dig down. The theme entries are placed pleasingly symmetrically, the letters for the agencies aren't just the first or last letter in the theme entries, they stand alone in each name or phrase, and the placement of the reveal dead center between the two is very neat. Good job.

Let's see what the fill holds for us:

Across:

1. Indian food option: MILD. I lean towards the more hot/spicy dishes, but there are many Indian dishes which are spiced, but not with chili or cayenne, the spices are there for aroma and flavor. Two classic examples are the korma, which is a mild, creamy curry, and the biryani, which is Indian cuisine's one-pot rice dish, a relative of paella, jambalaya and others. Here's my chicken biryani with coconut and yoghurt green raita.

5. "4x2=8" rapper from Korea: PSY. The "Gangnam Style" dude. I'm not sure any of us would be able to name any other Korean rapper.

8. Blood component: PLASMA

14. Et __: and others: ALII

15. Troy, N.Y., school: R.P.I. I tried to guess this, I got the "Institute" part, I could have guessed "Polytechnic", but there was no guessing "Rensselaer".

16. Trojan War hero: AENEAS

17. Delivery method: C-SECTION

19. Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, familiarly: COACH K

20. Fall: AUTUMN

21. Boats and gravy boats: VESSELS

22. Stockpiled: AMASSED

24. Tigers, on scoreboards: DET.

25. "Miracle on Ice" winners: Abbr.: U.S.A. One of the most famous moments in sports, and that goes for non-US fans - I remember this from the 1980 Winter Olympics long before I moved to the States and before I knew much at all about hockey. "Do you believe in miracles? YES!"

28. Pours carelessly: SLOPS

29. Start of el año: ENERO

31. Quick bite: NOSH

33. Chef's collection: FRY PANS. I've literally worn out a couple of my Cuisinart skillets, I'm thinking about replacing them with cast iron.

35. Siri device: IPHONE

37. Pointed facial features: VAN DYKES. This dude rocks a great Van Dyke.

41. Morris Buttermaker's "bad news" team: THE BEARS

43. Big name in smooth jazz: KENNY G

44. Spray can output: AEROSOL. I thought the aerosol WAS the can. The output is deodorant, paint, olive oil, you name it.

46. Like some U.S. mail: CERT. ified.

47. African antelope: ELAND

50. Binge: SPREE

52. Montgomery of jazz: WES

53. Part of UCLA: LOS

54. Due: PAYABLE

56. Easy marks: PATSIES

59. __ del Fuego: TIERRA. I met a bartender in New Orleans who was from Tierra del Fuego; she said when she was a kid, her mom would point at the moon and tell her that was the closest place to where they lived.

62. Angular abode: A-FRAME

63. Complex containing thiamine and niacin: VITAMIN B. My Doc told me to take B3 supplements, apparently I'm not getting enough sun, that seems difficult to pull off in Southern California. (Edit - he told me to take D3! - Steve]

65. Close tightly: SEAL UP

66. Half of eleven?: ONE. Nice clue. Double-1 makes 11.

67. Spots at the prom?: ACNE. Sad, but true.

68. Discount phrase: OR LESS

69. Farm sci.: AGR.iculture. Seems hard to imagine studying farming without it.

70. Mower holder: SHED. If you're mowing the grass for silage on the farm, your agriculture class probably tells you the size of shed you need for the mower.

Down:

1. Brit's raincoat: MAC. Have you seen the ad currently running for the Microsoft Surface? It features a real Brit called Mackenzie "Mac" Book who points out the differences between the Surface and the Mac Book. It made me laugh, very clever.

2. Rick's love in "Casablanca": ILSA

3. In __ of: LIEU

4. Decrees: DICTA

5. 1996 Richard Gere/Edward Norton thriller: PRIMAL FEAR

6. Spot buyer: SPONSOR

7. Half a cosmic whole: YIN

8. Walked nervously: PACED

9. Some summer babies: LEOS

10. Santa __: dry winds: ANAS. Fierce debate in my neck of the woods as to whether they are called "Santa Anas" or "Santanas". I'm firmly with the latter. "Santa Ana" is a corruption of the original name perpetrated by out-of-state weather forecasters. In Richard Dana's "Two Years Before the Mast" he references "the devil wind Santana", well known to sailors in these parts. Santa Ana is a small city in Riverside County, and the winds neither originate from there or are funneled through there. OK, got that off my chest!

11. Withdraw formally: SECEDE

12. "Resurrection Symphony" composer: MAHLER

13. Invites for: ASKS TO.  Invites for lunch/asks to lunch.

18. Antacid brand: TUMS

21. Italian scooter: VESPA. Here's a young Sting riding a Vespa GS in the Who's "Quadrophenia" movie. Goodness knows what that scooter would be worth now, they're getting very hard to find.

25. Yard, say: UNIT

26. Junior-to-be: SOPH. Shouldn't it be "Jnr." in the clue? Last time I looked, you were properly a sophomore.

27. Tennis immortal: ASHE. Arthur. The stadium in Flushing Meadows, home of the U.S. Open is named for him. The Australian open has the Rod Laver Arena, The French Open has "Stade Roland Garros" and Wimbledon has - Wimbledon. I rather like that. You're pretty much one and done with naming. Imagine the uproar if the French decided to replace Roland with Yannick Noah or Suzanne Lenglen.

29. "The Neverending Story" author: ENDE. A German novel, originally.

30. Acronymically named boy band: 'N SYNC. The last letters of the first names of the band members. Who knew? I think it's just a happy coincidence.

32. White House architect James: HOBAN

34. Rug rat: ANKLE BITER

36. More than want: NEED

38. Had down cold: KNEW

39. Thornfield Hall governess: EYRE

40. Capt.'s subordinates: SGTS.

42. Bouquet for a señorita: ROSAS. Second Spanish class of the day. Roses in January?

45. On the soapbox: ORATING

47. West Texas city: EL PASO. According to TripAdvisor, the best restaurant in El Paso serves Greek and Mediterranean food. Somehow I'm a little unsure about that.

48. Preppy shoe: LOAFER

49. Celestial: ASTRAL

51. Zeno's home: ELEA

54. Coterie members, in slang: PEEPS

55. "Aunt __ Cope Book": ERMA'S

57. Black Friday event: SALE

58. Controversial radio host: IMUS. It's difficult to have any kind of respect for this man, I'll leave it at that.

60. Like chocolate cheesecake: RICH

61. Actress Hathaway: ANNE

63. Intl. news broadcaster: V.O.A. Voice of America. A shadow of its former self. The BBC's World Service is now the largest international broadcaster.

64. Rest area?: BED

That about does it for me. Here's the grid, and it's time for 64D!

Steve

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to Dennis, who helped me greatly in the first few years of this blog. Dennis (the Marine) is now fighting another major battle. He'll probably let you know more later. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Thursday, September 19th 2019 Jeffrey Wechsler

Theme: Squeaky Clean - who's washing your dishes?

17A. Tall display of dishwashing liquid?: IVORY TOWER.

27A. Global donation of dishwashing liquid?: JOY TO THE WORLD.

42A. Rock band's preferred dishwashing liquid?: DAWN OF THE DEAD. The Grateful Dead.

57A. Using dishwashing liquid in the shower?: SUN-BATHING.

A quiet sashay down Aisle 11 in the grocery store and dish washing options galore. I use Palmolive, so I was not represented here. Simple enough theme, but nicely done. As always, Jeffrey pays attention to the fill and makes sure there's nothing clunky to make you wince. Some nice longer downs as always - Jeffrey and C.C seem to be masters at that aspect of construction.

Across:

1. Barista's concoction: BLEND. I started on the wrong foot here with LATTE, and I still think it's a more appropriate answer to the clue. Baristas don't blend the coffee, they brew whatever beans are blended for them.

6. Domino dots: PIPS.

10. Rotating rod: SPIT. Barbecue! Food!

14. Construction rod: REBAR.

15. Square __: ROOT.

16. Skirt with a flounce: TUTU.

19. MiG developer: USSR. In an oddly non-Soviet personal recognition move, in 1939 the USSR named the MiG fighter airplane for its developers - Artem Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich.

20. Wee: TINY.

21. Soy sauce taste: UMAMI. The fifth "taste" - salt, sweet, sour, bitter and umami - savory or meaty. When I need an umami "bomb" to season a casserole, for example, I go with a mixture of soy sauce, anchovy paste and Marmite.

22. Sleuth of radio, movies and TV: CHAN. Jackie.

23. Sitcom star from Melmac: ALF. Crosses all the way, this series passed me by.

25. Sticker: DECAL.

32. Set in a golf bag: IRONS. Arnold Palmer was once asked what he did if he was caught in a lightning storm when he was out on the golf course. He responded "I walk down the fairway and hold a one-iron high in the air". When asked if that was wise, he told the interviewer "Yes, even God can't hit a one-iron".

34. TV exec Arledge: ROONE. Head of ABC Sports and later ABC News.

35. Barcelona bear: OSO.

36. Short dog, for short: PEKE.

37. Or so: ABOUT.

38. 1956 crisis site: SUEZ. A kerfuffle over a canal.

39. Chest-beating beast: APE.

40. Darts: FLITS.

41. Slow, to Ravel: LENTE. Here's a great excuse to revisit one of the great performances in Ice Dance from 1984 - Jayne Torville and Christopher Dean interpret Ravel's Bolero. The dance won them the Gold medal at both the 1984 Olympic Games and the World Championships.

45. "Supergirl" actor Jon: CRYER. He's most famous, I think, for his role in "Two and a Half Men".

46. It can be thin but not fat: AIR.

47. Glance through: SKIM.

48. Goaded, with "on": EGGED.

52. Seed used in smoothies: CHIA. Do the pets get smoothied too?

56. "O brawling love! O loving __!": Romeo: HATE. A tad conflicted, was our boy Romeo:

“Why then, O brawling love! O loving hate!

O any thing, of nothing first create!

O heavy lightness, serious vanity,

Misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms,

Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health,

Still-waking sleep, that is not what it is!

This love feel I, that feel no love in this.”

59. "__ that a lot": I GET.

60. One likely to snap: CRAB. I've just finished the latest season of "Deadliest Catch". Those king crab are snappy little buggers, steer well clear.

61. Spree: BINGE.

62. Like everything in a she shed: HERS. Is a "she shed" really a thing? I've only encountered the expression on a rather lame insurance company commercial.

63. Ballpark figure: OUTS.

64. Aconcagua's range: ANDES. 22,841 feet and the highest mountain outside Asia.

Down:

1. Pram pusher: BRIT. A baby carriage, more formally a "perambulator".

2. Son of Leah: LEVI.

3. Black, to a bard: EBON.

4. Zero, quaintly: NARY A ONE.

5. Martini specification: DRY. The only way, in my book. Ice, gin (NOT vodka!). Shaken. Glass. Twist. Drink.

6. Dance with a queen: PROM. Nice clue, it took a while for me to see this.

7. Captain Kirk's home state: IOWA. We learn something every day.

8. Common greeting card content: POEM.

9. Far from soothing: STRIDENT.

10. Masonry finish: STUCCO.

11. Bully: PUSH AROUND.

12. "Everything's ready to go!": IT'S ALL SET!

13. Chance at the spinner: TURN. Wheel of Fortune? There are some grand "Wheel" bloopers, some of which are not fit for a family publication. I'll leave it at that.

18. Clump of dune grass: TUFT.

24. Fleur-de-__: LYS. Finally - I got my LIS/LYS mojo. Nailed it!

26. Baa ma: EWE.

27. One whose work is laughable: JOKE WRITER.

28. Heavenly path: ORBIT.

29. Gear bit: TOOTH.

30. Word with hot or dog: HOUSE.

31. Zonk out: DOZE.

32. Tablet with Air, Pro and Mini models: IPAD.

33. Update the look of, as a product: REPACKAGE.

37. Like some bistros: AL FRESCO.

38. 1957 Coasters chart-topper with the refrain "Gonna find her": SEARCHIN'. Crosses, but solid. No real problem.

40. Opponent: FOE.

41. Fragrant chain: LEI.

43. MLB team with Mr. and Mrs. mascots: N.Y. METS. Crosses, but solid. I think this might be the refrain of the day for me.

44. Duchamp genre: DADA. Marcel Duchamp and Salvador Dalí play chess:

47. __ Tzu: SHIH.

49. Trusted advisor: GURU.

50. Pesky bug: GNAT.

51. Goes back: EBBS.

53. Rear: HIND.

54. "Picnic" playwright: INGE. Crosses, but solid, here we go again. A 1953 play by William Inge which, I suspect, would be long forgotten except it was the Broadway debut for Paul Newman.

55. Forever: AGES.

58. Placeholder abbr.: T.B.A. To Be Advised.

I'm going to give the rest of this blog over to the cryptic puzzle which appeared in the UK's Guardian broadsheet last Thursday while I was in the UK - the top and bottom rows spell out a quite forthright political opinion. I encourage you to read the resulting article and click the interview with the constructor, who is also a heart surgeon. (Puzzles in the Guardian and Telegraph are published under a pseudonym, the Times puzzles are published anonymously).

And now here's the grid in all its glory:

Steve

Thursday, September 12th 2019 Jeffrey Wechsler

Theme: Back to Square One - and how is that? Let's explain.

40A. Classic American board game symbolized by this puzzle's circles: CHUTES AND LADDERS. In the UK, and, I believe, Canada, the game is called "Snakes and Ladders" although there are many variations. There are even a chain of coffee shops headquartered in Toronto called "Snakes and Lattes".

The game originated in ancient India under the name Moksha Patam, and traveled to the UK to be called "Snakes and Ladders", faithful to the Indian original, and thence to the Americas, where Milton Bradley renamed it "Chutes and Ladders" and produced the first US version in 1943. I hope the clue refers to the name of the US version, and not the provenance.

It's an interesting study of morality, the ladders reward virtue and the snakes, or chutes, punish transgression. The phrase "back to square one" originated from the game.

Here's a game board preserved in the National Museum in Delhi:

OK, history lesson over.

Jeffrey served up a wonderful puzzle here, it takes great skill to be able to hide the theme entries in multiple adjoining fill, and note that the "downwards" entries are all "chutes" and the "upwards" entries are all "ladders".

Downwards: TRASH, MAIL and LAUNDRY
Upwards: ROPE, FIRE and STEP.

As always, Jeffrey hides some landmines, so just when you think you have the thing beat, you find a section that you stare at, fiddle with, write stuff in, take stuff out, you just can't figure it out. For me this week was the top-center, I had terrible trouble getting that straight.

So Bravo! Mr. Wechsler. Let's take a look at what we have:

Across:

1. "Are you getting 100%?" cereal: TOTAL

6. Lover: FLAME. As I mentioned above, this section took me an age to figure out. I just couldn't see FLAME, OILER and even when I finally tripped to PULLMAN I was lost.

11. Excludes: BANS

15. Place to play: ARENA

16. Gulf of Oman vessel: OILER

17. Neutral tone: ECRU

18. Charcuterie fare: MEATS. Food! Originally a way of preserving meats, mainly pork, before refrigeration. Nowadays extends to pates, sausage, and all kinds of interesting stuff.

19. Quaint sleeping coach: PULLMAN CAR. The UK railways ran various all-Pullman services which were first-class only. White tablecloths, candles, waiter food service. I have a couple of Pullman cars on my model railway.

21. Target, as a receiver: PASS TO

23. "Moonlight Sonata" opening movement, e.g.: ADAGIO. Here's Beethoven's masterpiece adagio. Don't bother reading the snarky comments below the piece, it's amazing how those keyboard warriiors want to find some, any excuse to criticize. I think comments should be closed for YouTube.

24. Stand buy: ADE. Lemonade, Ice-T :) What was that commercial for? It was funny.

25. Dromedary feature: HUMP

28. Hybrid fruits: UGLIS

31. Cheerleader's cry: GO TEAM! Or GO WRONG TEAM! as this USC cheerleader celebrates Vince Young's winning touchdown in the 2006 Rose Bowl which confirmed Texas as the National Champions. Ooops.

33. Top __: BANANA

34. "Garfield: __ of Two Kitties": A TAIL. Unheard of, but an easy guess.

37. Deceptive appearance: GUISE

39. __ Plaines: DES

44. Fish often fried: COD. Back in me youth, we ate fish on Fridays, as did all good Catholics (or bad Catholics, in our case, but we had to keep up appearances). The local "chippy" was my mother's night off cooking, we had take-out of fried fish and chips. Three choices, battered cod or haddock; or my dad's favorite, breaded plaice. Wrapped in genuine newsprint. Happy days.

45. Famille member: ONCLE

46. Out of practice: RUSTY. Like my piano skills, I might be able to knock out a "Moonlight Sonata" but I'd have the dogs howling, and not at the moon.

47. Deceptive: TRICKY. A bit like Jeffrey's puzzles.

50. Took to heart: HEEDED

52. Sleep soundly?: SNORE. Loved this clue/answer.

53. Classic movie theaters: RKO'S. RKO had a crack at "verticalization" before anyone had even thought of the term. They figured that if they were producing the movies, they may as well air them in their own theaters and take the box office directly without giving a cut to the theater owners.

54. Maple yield: SAP

57. Martial arts teacher: SENSEI. Literally "one who comes before". An honorific shared in both Chinese and Japanese.

61. Knesset country: ISRAEL. The Israeli Parliament.

63. Brit's afternoon drink: A SPOT OF TEA. Tough to parse if you have all the letters from crosses: ASPOTOFTEA. What? It's the "POT" that throws you.

67. Raised landform: BUTTE

68. Stable baby: FOAL

69. Befuddled: AT SEA

70. It was originally a sitting meditation pose: ASANA. Now a yoga position.

71. Capital on the Tiber: ROME

72. With 22-Down, intimidate: PSYCH (out).

73. Reach: GET AT

Down:

1. __ Bay Rays: TAMPA. When did they drop the "Devil" part of the name? C.C. would know.

2. Nymph associated with Artemis: OREAD. Not one, but many. These were mountain nymphs, allegedly aggressive, but they didn't seem to have any trouble attracting attention. I wonder why?

3. Needle: TEASE

4. Tiny tunnelers: ANTS

5. Eighteenth, usually: LAST HOLE. My last hole is the nineteenth - the clubhouse bar.

6. Clotheshorse: FOP

7. Sch. with a Brooklyn campus: LIU. This innocuous little fill was the source of a good 20 minutes of head-scratching - couldn't see past NYU. NYU went in, came out, went in, came out, we do the hokey-pokey and we turn about and end up with NYU all over again. Long Island University - of course. Now if you were asking about Iced Tea, you'd be speaking my language.

8. Penne __ vodka: ALLA. Food! I know you wanted "A LA", as did I - but we are speaking Italian, not French. Here's my dinner tonight - ragu Bolognese I made yesterday (the flavors develop if you leave it overnight), linguine, Parmegiano Reggiano, basil from my own bush and - the killer - a poached egg. So I present "Lingine alla Bolognese con l'uovo" in my terrible Italian.

9. Fuse: MELD

10. Writer Bombeck: ERMA. I still struggle to remember ERMA vs IRMA. Sorry, Irma - I mean, Erma.

11. Inoffensive: BENIGN

12. Praise: ACCOLADES

13. New Deal agcy.: NRA

14. __ La Table: cookware shop: SUR. There's one next to the original Farmer's Market on Fairfax here in LA. It has a magnetic attraction - when I shop the market, I swear they teleport me in there and do the hypnosis finger-snap just after I've finished buying something. I have a rather lovely paella pan from my last telekinetic moment, but I have to say it's had a lot of use.

20. Bonn : Wasser :: Barcelona : __: AGUA

22. See 72-Across: OUT

26. Soccer star Rapinoe: MEGAN

27. Beer belly: PAUNCH

29. Unlikely to react: INERT

30. Likely to react?: SASSY

31. "Scram, varmints!": GIT

32. 2017 "Hello, Dolly!" Tony winner: MIDLER. Bette, of course.

33. TV's Arthur: BEA

34. Billing nos.: ACCTS

35. "This __ / Doth to our rose of youth rightly belong" (Shakespeare): THORN. The "thorn" of love.

Countess: Even so it was with me when I was young:

If ever we are nature's, these are ours; this thorn

Doth to our rose of youth rightly belong;

All's Well that Ends Well, Act III sc i.

36. Intrusive MP3 files: AUDIO SPAM. Is this a thing? I know the two words go together, but had anyone ever had an unwanted intrusion of MP3 files? I know U2 came in for some flak a while ago when they gave their latest album away free to anyone who had an Apple iTunes account, but I can't think of anything which might come close to spam. Anyone?

38. Aerodynamic: SLEEK

41. __ sauce: SOY

42. Bridal gown storage option: DRESS BAG. Hmmm, OK.

43. It'll never work: DUD

48. Big Easy cuisine: CREOLE. Food!

49. Co-worker of Lane and Olsen: KENT. Superman in his day job.

51. "Where __ sign?": DO I

54. Pulled a chair up to: SAT AT

55. Insurance giant: AETNA. Founded as the Aetna (Fire) Insurance Company of Hartford, Connecticut. Why Aetna? Based on the name of Etna, the active volcano beloved of crossword constructors.

56. Skirt fold: PLEAT

58. Dove, e.g.: SOAP

59. Young salamanders: EFTS

60. Wee: ITSY

62. Sleight of hand: RUSE

63. Egypt's cont.: AFRica. If you'd like a little different take on the by-now bland "Toto" song, here's my favorite Norwegian heavy metal and legendary cover artist Leo Morachiolli. Ear defenders advised for the weak at heart, or hearing.

64. Jack of "Barney Miller": SOO

65. Common Market letters: EEC. European Economic Community.

66. Hot tub sigh: AAH!

I'm in the UK for a few days, I'm crossing my fingers that civil war doesn't break out while I'm here and the hordes descend on Heathrow Airport with pitchforks and torches. If that happens, I'll just pop into the pub for a pint or two and maybe a spot of tea and wait for it to rain. The last time there were major riots in England when I lived there it was during a spell of nice weather. Once it started raining, the rioting subsided. No-one likes to riot in the rain.

Pip-pip, old Chaps! Toodle-oo!

Steve

Note from C.C.:

Happy 60th birthday to dear Steve, the Cal Ripken Jr. of our blog. Steve has a busy job and travels often, but he always prioritizes our blog and writes many posts on the road. Thank you so much for your incomparable dedication and humor, Steve!

Steve and Jill, June 12, 2016

Tea at The Queen Mary

Thursday, September 5th 2019 Kristian House

Theme: Two's Company or an enemy! Two-handed games, let's go look:

17A. *Brain trust member: MASTERMIND. Fun game, you try to match the colors and order of four hidden pegs set by your opponent. "Mastermind" is also a long-running quiz show in the UK; the first few seasons were won by university professors, diplomats and such. Then Fred Housego, a London taxi driver, stormed the competition, he won and became a popular figure appearing on TV and radio. Even though he was an emerging media star he still continued to drive his cab.

22A. *Nixon's cocker spaniel: CHECKERS. Not many alternative clues for this one. The only one I can think of is too "British". (the Prime Minister's "official" country residence). Why the PM needs a country residence is beyond me.

38A. *Influential record company named for co-founding brothers Leonard and Phil: CHESS. A great story and anyone lovers of R&B or Rock 'n Roll will know Chess Records. Interestingly, they also had a subsidiary label "Checker" - shame it wasn't the plural to match 22A.

This is their release "Rocket 88" with Jackie Brenston, a single generally accepted as the first "Rock and Roll" release

50A. *Playful question spoiled by caller ID: GUESS WHO? Also guess who:

"Knock knock!
Who's there?
To!
To who?
No, it's to whom.

60A. *The USS Iowa, e.g.: BATTLESHIP. The game used to be simple, played on graph paper, and calling out squares to your opponent, but it's got a little more complicated, battery powered and unnecessary. Does there have to be an app for everything? The battleship "Iowa" found a home here in Southern California in San Pedro harbor.

11D. With 28-Down, words to a cheater ... or an honest hint to the answers to starred clues: TWO CAN PLAY ...

28D. See 11-Down: ... AT THAT GAME

This was nicely done. The five theme entries were clued without any reference to the games, and the down reveal was a nice surprise when it all came together. Great job by Kristian and a lot of fun fill to round things out.

Across:

1. Isla surrounder: AGUA

5. Real cutup: JOKER

10. Italian volcano: ETNA. There's another four-letter volcano in Italy in the Lazio region, Vico, and Lake Vico occupies the caldera,it's  safe to say it hasn't blown its top for quite some time, if it does all that water would be giving Rome a hot shower.

14. TV series that had flashbacks, flash-forwards and multiple timelines: LOST

15. Kemper of "The Office": ELLIE

16. Truant GI: AWOL

19. Meander: ROVE

20. Afflicted with illness, say: STRICKEN

21. Gastric woe: ULCER

25. PC key: ALT

26. Reel Big Fish music genre: SKA

29. Pigs out (on): ODS

30. Flying frenemy of Godzilla: RODAN. "Frenemies" because they usually start out fighting each other in the movies, then team up to defeat a bigger threat to them both.

32. "Beaten" ways: PATHS. Because "Sado-masochistic lifestyle" doesn't quite fit.

34. One who is rotten to the core?: BAD APPLE

37. Quartet member: ALTO

40. Serb or Croat: SLAV

41. Went over again and again: REHASHED

43. Razz: TEASE

44. Geometric given: AXIOM. I thought "postulates" were geometric and "axioms" algebraic, but since I pretty much sucked at high school mathematics so who am I to question the experts?

45. Ox tail?: -IDE

47. Hankering: YEN

48. Toward the stern: AFT

53. 2010 Supreme Court appointee: KAGAN

55. Shows derision for: SNEERS AT

59. Boast: BRAG

62. Toon mail-order company: ACME. He'd get quicker delivery and free returns with Amazon Prime today.

63. Be of use to: AVAIL

64. Sty sound: OINK

65. Swamp stalk: REED

66. "Aw, fudge!": NERTS!

67. Corddry of TV's "Mom": NATE. Crosses all the way, as is my wont with TV-related clues.

Down:

1. Help for the needy: ALMS

2. Animal on the Cubs' 2016 World Series rings: GOAT. I've been to the original Billy Goat Tavern on Lower Michigan Avenue. Simple enough place, cold beer and the "cheezborgers" of Saturday Night Live fame.

3. Space Race inits.: U.S.S.R.

4. Room often with a slanted ceiling: ATTIC

5. Pulled quickly: JERKED

6. Early Mexicans: OLMECS

7. "Hogan's Heroes" colonel: KLINK

8. German article: EIN

9. Crimson, e.g.: RED

10. Bluegrass legend Scruggs: EARL

12. Original: NOVEL

13. At the ready: ALERT

18. Heart sonograms, familiarly: ECHOS

21. Food safety agcy.: U.S.D.A.

23. Paleozoic and Cenozoic: ERAS

24. Retina cells: RODS

26. Exchange barbs: SPAR

27. Curly cabbage: KALE

31. Church area: APSE

33. The Cardiff Giant, notably: HOAX. A great story. The hoax was exploited by one David Hannum, who coined the phrase "there's a sucker born every minute" when he discovered people were paying to see a copy of the giant, created by P.T. Barnum. Hannum sued Barnum, but the case was dismissed by the judge who ruled that Barnum had just faked a fake.

Look him up on Wikipedia. I'd post the picture here, but some of delicate dispositions might be alarmed by the naked giant's nether regions. If the giant is ten feet tall, his well-sculpted "wedding tackle" is around a foot. He puts Michelangelo's "David" to shame.

34. __ Bath & Beyond: BED

35. Zap with a beam: LASE

36. Equally matched: EVEN

38. __ En-lai: CHOU

39. Iron-rich blood pigment: HEME. Slowly figured this out from the related words - hematoma, hemaglobin and so on. In UK English, we complicate matters, originally using the dipthong spelling "hæma..." and then, completely true to the "why don't we complicate spelling?"  edict, the expanded "haema".

42. Portent: SIGN

43. Giggly sound: TE-HEE

45. "Don't you agree?": ISN'T IT?

46. Resides: DWELLS

48. 1556-1605 Mogul emperor: AKBAR

49. Screwball comedy: FARCE

51. Celestial red giant: S-STAR

52. Director Welles: ORSON

54. Like good Scotch: AGED. It never goes bad, unlike wine aged too long, but it disappears, evaporating into the ether, the annual 2% loss known as "the angel's share". That's 29 million gallons of Scotch evaporating out of the barrels of Scottish distilleries every year. Those angels are having a PAR-TEY!

56. LaBeouf of "Transformers" films: SHIA

57. Informal contraction: AIN'T

58. Toll rd.: TPKE. The geek in me knows it as an acronym for Threshold Public Key Encryption.

60. Prohibition: BAN. A good job it didn't happen in Scotland otherwise those angels would have to go find something useful to do.

61. "__ Maria": AVE

That's about it, I think. Music link posted? Check. Picture embedded? Check. Random story about the UK? Check! Grid? Here it is. Check!

Steve

Thursday, August 29th 2019 Ed Sessa

Theme: Goodbye Hello Goodbye - Help! I'm stuck in here! As the reveal explains:

58A. It comes full circle as you work your way through 20-, 36-, 43- and 58-Across: REVOLVING DOOR

20A. Cookie with a whimsical name: SNICKERDOODLE. I've never had one. I resolve to try one, I'll report back. I had an Orange Julius for the first time last week and thoroughly enjoyed it, I need to start visiting the oddly delicious menu items more often. Popeye's just launched a chicken sandwich that made the culture section of the UK newspaper I read online. Truly these are great times.

Read about it here

36A. The grapevine: WORD OF MOUTH. The Grapevine is the climb out of LA on I-5 to San Francisco or Fresno. Closed in winter sometimes, we do get snow down here, contrary to popular opinion. You can still surf though!

43A. Custom: MADE TO ORDER. French fashion introduced "Prêt-à-Porter", literally "Ready to Wear" as a reaction against bespoke, expensive tailoring. A genius sandwich chain which launched in England called their stores "Prêt-à-Manger" - "Ready to Eat". Branches have arrived in New York, I'm waiting for them to make the 3,000 mile trip across the country when they open one in LA. I'll be first in line.

Nice job by Mr. Sessa - notice how the "DOOR" revolves a letter-shift at a time through RDOO, ORDO, OORD to end at DOOR. First class construction. Note the 10- and 9- letter entries in the fill too, Ed is a craftsman, without doubt. Let's see what else jumps out:

Across:

1. Respond to "Let's give it up for ... ": CLAP

5. Moves like Tinker Bell: FLITS

10. "... thou damned whale!" speaker: AHAB. Of "Moby Dick" fame, or infamy, depending on your viewpoint.

14. Gad about: ROVE

15. Like some whiskey barrels: OAKEN. Irish whiskey is my favorite, curiously most Irish whiskey (note the "e") is aged in ex-Bourbon oak barrels from the US.

16. Lawless character: XENA. Nice clue. New Zealander Lucy Lawless portrayed the title character in "Xena: Warrior Princess".

17. Turkmenistan neighbor: IRAN. IRA_ and wait for the cross.

18. Huge herbivore: RHINOCEROS. Isn't it interesting all the big African animals - the rhinos, the hippos, the elephants are all herbivores?

22. Biden's 2008 debate opponent: PALIN. In UK politics, in 1978 one debatee described being attacked by the other as "like being savaged by a dead sheep". I'll leave it at that.

23. "Fresh Air" airer: NPR

24. Although: YET

27. Led Zeppelin's "Whole __ Love": LOTTA

31. Critical layer: OZONE

33. Torch-wielding group in "Frankenstein": MOB. Pitchforks too, if it's a proper mob. You can't storm a castle without a good turnout of pitchforks.

39. From the beginning: ANEW

41. LED component: DIODE. Light-Emitting Diode. I have a few of them lighting the interiors some of the buildings on my model railway.

42. Brute: OGRE

46. "__ Como Va": Santana hit: OYE. Carlos Santana had some genius moments of collaboration - here's Rob Thomas, lead singer of Matchbox Twenty with Santana, the hit that that pretty much took over the radio in 1999/2000

47. Penny pincher: MISER

48. Composition: ESSAY

50. Dalí contemporary: ARP. Jean on a French day, Hans on a German day.

"Déméter"

51. Summer in la ville: ÉTÉ

54. One to the manor born: NOBLE

63. It's stressful to live in it: CRISIS MODE. Stressful? That's an understatement.

65. Counterclockwise arrow function: UNDO

66. Countless years: EONS

67. Monastery wear: COWLS

68. Monopoly card: DEED. The most expensive property on the UK version is "Mayfair", which actually is isn't a street in London, it's a ritzy district off Park Lane, the second-most expensive property.

69. Name on a box of bricks: LEGO

70. Useful thing: ASSET

71. Gaelic language: ERSE

Down:

1. Like pretzel rods: CRISP

2. Doone of Exmoor: LORNA. Set in the fictional Doone Valley in the west of England

3. Be of service to: AVAIL

4. Eyeliner applicator: PENCIL

5. Driver's warning: FORE! Golf. A word often employed by yours truly.

6. "The Wizard of Oz" actor: LAHR

7. "Just messin' around": I KID!

8. Mortise insert: TENON. One of these!

9. Nose (around): SNOOP

10. Salchow kin: AXEL. Ice skating jumps.

11. "Take it": HERE YOU GO!

12. Smart game-show vowel purchase for "D _ _ M AND GL _ _ M": AN "O"

13. English lit degrees: BA'S. Two graduates of English Lit would be Bachelors of Art, but the two degrees are BA's. English is a peculiar language.

19. Data disk: CD-ROM

21. Recognize: KNOW

25. Sweepstakes submission: ENTRY

26. Titter: TEHEE. This is one of those words that crossword constructors can spell a number of different ways to suit their needs.

28. Stir: TO-DO

29. The Chipmunks, e.g.: TRIO. "The Chipmunks", pronounced "Annoying as hell".

30. Go gaga over: ADORE

32. Herpetologist's employer: ZOO. A specialist in reptiles and amphibians. From the Greek "herpeton" - "creeping animal".

33. Famiglia nickname: MAMMA

34. Being broadcast: ON AIR

35. Support for a king?: BEDSPRING. One word or two? The interwebs are divided.

37. Chances: ODDS

38. Tuition add-ons: FEES

40. Rather small: WEE

44. Fountain near the Spanish Steps: TREVI. The Rome police have introduced fines for tourists sitting on the Spanish Steps. It seems a little harsh. The fines are not "Trevi-al" either - around $280.

45. Chimed: RANG

49. Slangy greeting: YO! DUDE!

52. Puccini opera: TOSCA

53. "__ World": "Sesame Street" segment: ELMO'S

55. Dumb move: BONER

56. High-yield deposits: LODES

57. Wear away: ERODE

59. Petro-Canada competitor: ESSO

60. Swearing in a monastery?: VOWS. Those cowl-clad denizens of 67A. Nice clue.

61. Not working: IDLE

62. House in a bush: NEST

63. Bit of animation: CEL

64. Anonym in a landmark case: ROE vs. Wade.

I think that about does it for me. Just time to add the grid and I'm outta here!

Steve

Thursday, August 22nd 2019 Winston Emmons

Theme: EPI-penned - the letters EPI appear in the theme entries as the reveal explains:

65A. Quake's origin, and a feature of the answers to starred clues: EPICENTER. Very common word on the news around these parts. There have been a few pretty big shakes over the last few weeks.

So we get:

17A. *Watch: TIMEPIECE

24A. *Jazzman Fats Waller, style-wise: STRIDE PIANIST.  I was not familiar with this term at all.

40A. *"Boulevard Montmartre" series painter: CAMILLE PISSARRO

Here's the boulevard "on a Winter's Morning":

52A. *Understand: GET THE PICTURE

Straightforward enough theme, nicely executed. Note that the "EPI"s in each theme entry are the middle three letters of each answer. I struggled a bit with the STRIDE/W.C. HANDY/AZO/DYNES region but the crosses eventually pulled it together.

Across:

1. Suggestions, informally: RECS. Recommendations, I presume.

5. Many 40-Across works: OILS. A cross-reference clue right off the bat to annoy those who don't like them!

9. Supplement: ADD TO

14. Monsieur's mine: À MOI

15. Champagne designation: BRUT. Driest of the champagnes. The others, from dry to sweet, are Extra Sec, Sec, Demi Sec and Doux. Some purests split "rut" into "Extra Brut", the driest, and "Brut Nature".

16. React to a loss: MOURN

19. Palestinian leader Mahmoud: ABBAS. Thank you, crosses

20. Childish comeback: ARE SO!

21. Increase, with "up": REV

23. Simian: APE

29. "St. Louis Blues" composer: W.C. HANDY. Unknown to me. A very influential musician, I come to find.

31. Huntsville's home: Abbr.: ALA. Handy briefly taught at the now-named Alabama A&M University near Huntsville, and quit when he found that a pipe-fitter made more money. See what I just learned?

32. Nitrogen-based dye: AZO. Another unknown.

33. Turow book set at Harvard: ONE L. "One L" refers to a first-year law student, not just at Harvard but all law schools.

36. Quaking tree: ASPEN

44. Krispy __: KREME

45. Room in una casa: SALA

46. __ bran: OAT

47. Corn unit: EAR

49. Sisters on whom "Little Women" was loosely based: ALCOTTS

57. It may be inflated: EGO

58. Not bright: DIM

59. Dreadlocks wearer: RASTA

62. Golfer with an "army": ARNIE. Arnold Palmer, nicknamed "The King". He was one of the first golf superstars with the arrival of televised tournaments.

68. Walks unsteadily: REELS

69. Make over: REDO

70. "Star Trek" creator Roddenberry: GENE. There's a building on the Paramount lot named for him. He's made them quite a bit of money over the years.

71. Sore throat cause: STREP

72. Word with dash or happy: SLAP

73. Novelist Ferber: EDNA

Down:

1. Female rodent, to Fernando: RATA. You need a gato to chase her off.

2. Arab chieftain: EMIR

3. Returns: COMES HOME

4. Afternoon break: SIESTA

5. Kimono sash: OBI

6. Anger: IRE

7. "Filthy" moolah: LUCRE. Is all lucre filthy?

8. Expensive: STEEP

9. Physicians' gp.: A.M.A.

10. Bio info: D.O.B.

11. City with the world's tallest building: DUBAI

12. Snares: TRAPS

13. Kickoff: ONSET

18. Dirty work?: PORN. Rich has been getting a little more lenient over the years with "acceptable" entries.

22. By way of: VIA

25. Object of much reverence: IDOL

26. Newton fractions: DYNES. This was part my problem area, crossing "STRIDE" and "HANDY".

27. Rueful word: ALAS

28. Voyager org.: N.A.S.A.

29. Eccentric: WACK

30. Überauthority: CZAR. What, he arrived in Russia in a ride service? Maybe Otis was a Lyftauthority?

34. "Learn about the UV Index" org.: E.P.A.

35. Pastel shade: LILAC

37. Voiced one's opposition: PROTESTED

38. Logician's "E": ERAT. "Quod Erat Demonstrandum", "QED".

39. Forget-me-__: NOTS

41. "How __ Your Mother": I MET

42. "Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology" memoirist Remini: LEAH. I remember hearing about the book, I never got around to reading it.

43. Brine has a lot of it: SALT

48. Signal to stop: RED

50. Virologist's goal: CURE

51. Creamsicle flavor: ORANGE. How funny, just last Friday I had my first "Orange Julius" at a Dairy Queen in Westminster Mall. It was surprisingly good!

52. Gets ready, with "up": GEARS

53. Long-billed wader: EGRET

54. Copier cartridge: TONER

55. Places to tie up: PIERS

56. Drive: IMPEL

60. Miss. neighbor: TENN.

61. Plane measurement: AREA

63. Martinique, par exemple: ÎLE. Caribbean island, part of the French West Indies. Here's La Plage des Salines - beautiful!

64. Clairvoyant's claim: E.S.P.

66. Journalist Tarbell: IDA

67. Steal, in slang: COP

I think that about does it for me today. Hasta la Jueves!

Steve

Thursday, August 15th, 2019 Gary Larson

Theme:

39A. Come to a compromise ... and a homophonic hint to what each of four long answers contains: MEET IN THE MIDDLE

17A. E-cig user's package: VAPOR KIT. Food! Funny, I just made a Mexican pork dish last night, pork pibil. it was dee-lish, great tacos. A friend suggested I swap out the tomatillos in the sauce for cumquat, I like that idea for the acid element. I'll report back.

24A. Place for an apian colony: HONEY BEE FARM

51A. Self-arming protection system: PASSIVE ALARM

64A. Beach party with shellfish: CLAMBAKE

Plain and straightforward theme from Gary. Nothing to complain about - except maybe "VAPOR KIT". I'd never heard of that, and Google seems to agree with me. It seems a little contrived. "VAPE" yes, otherwise - not so much.

So moving on:

Across:

1. "Cheers" cheer: NORM!

5. Lyft or Uber: APP

8. Makes fun of: MOCKS

13. Melville's "Typee" sequel: OMOO. Has anyone actually read this? It crops up in many crosswords - and has anyone actually read "Typee"? "Moby Dick" was a slog.

14. Seafood delicacy: ROE

15. "Oh, darn!": AW, RATS! Charlie Brown's favorite exclamation.

19. Dollhouse accessory: TEA SET. TEA POT slowed me down.

20. Playground retort: ARE SO!

21. ER "Now!": STAT!

23. "What fun!": WHEE!. There's a lot of exclamations today. I used to work for a Dubliner in London who called the exclamation point a "shriek". I got to like it. I asked him for the password to a computer account once when I was new, and he told me "shriek or shriek ..." I was thoroughly confused ... until I discovered he was saying "!R!". So if you want to know the password to the database administrator account at [redacted], it's "Shriek or Shriek password"

27. Married person: SPOUSE

30. "Furthermore ... ": ALSO ...

31. Keats' "Sylvan historian": URN.

Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness,

       Thou foster-child of silence and slow time,

Sylvan historian, who canst thus express

       A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:

32. Actor McShane and novelist McEwan: IANS. I'm fans of both.

35. Fields of study: AREAS

43. Offspring: SPAWN. Usually "hell-spawn" for some reason.

44. Merrie __ England: OLDE. The Renaissance Fair doesn't really do justice to how pretty nasty conditions were in "Merry Old England".

45. Alumna bio word: NÉE

46. "Argo" setting: IRAN

48. One of the four Evangelists: ST. MARK. Matthew, Luke and John were his Evangelist compadres.

56. May, to Peter Parker: AUNT

57. North-of-the-border brand: ESSO. Across-the-Atlantic brand too.

58. Kick to the next level: AMP UP

62. Scribe: WRITER

66. Inhumane one: SADIST. Actually, the Marquis de Sade gets a little bum rap for this, so I've read.

67. The whole lot: ALL.

68. Frank: OPEN

69. Flows slowly: SEEPS

70. Chi follower: PSI

71. Gridiron play: PASS

Down:

1. Super star: NOVA. So here's a little musical interlude to a "supernova" band who apparently predicted their explosion to fame and implosion in an omnishambles quite accurately. Damn, they were good.

2. "Rubáiyát" poet Khayyám: OMAR. I'm glad I didn't have to go look for the diacriticals in the clue, I'd have been busy all day.

3. One may be tied around a saddle horn: ROPE

4. Chinese dish with pancakes: MOO SHU. Food!

5. Torah holder: ARK

6. Composure: POISE

7. Picayune: PETTY

8. Fisher-Price parent: MATTEL. They have a "Hot Wheels" branded bus that ferries folk between their two campuses in El Segundo her in LA. It's pretty cool. When you are waiting in the lobby they have a "bus cam" so you can see where it is.

9. Need to pay: OWE

10. "Mommie Dearest" mommie: CRAWFORD

11. Buckwheat dish: KASHA. I had never heard of this before, so, obviously, I'm going to make it at the weekend and see what's what.

12. Ranch critter: STEER. Critter? Terrible clue.

16. Goblet part: STEM

18. Outback hoppers: ROOS

22. Cut down to size: ABASED

25. Teutonic turndown: NEIN

26. Morales of "La Bamba": ESAI

27. Basic math homework: SUMS

28. Help the chef: PREP. You're welcome to join me in my kitchen. I'll prep for you if you'll return the favor.

29. Draft card designation: ONE-A

33. More than apologizes: ATONES

34. Org. with Canadiens and Canucks: NHL

36. Poet St. Vincent Millay: EDNA

37. Astro or Angel: AL'ER. Baseball, ask C.C.

38. Car radio button: SEEK

40. Drawstring alternative: TWIST TIE. Creative clue.

41. Crucifix letters: INRI

42. Painted Desert landform: MESA

47. Heads off: AVERTS

49. Airport conveyance: TRAM. The longest and most aggravating tram contest is a three-way playoff between San Franscisco, Atlanta and Newark.

50. 1997 chart-topper for Hanson: MMMBOP. I looked it up on YouTube. The chorus was vaguely familiar. What I was stunned about was the ads for the current tour. I assumed they all retired when their voices broke.

51. Bear hands: PAWS

52. Mysterious glows: AURAS

53. Like some remarks: SNIDE

54. Music licensing fee-collecting org.: ASCAP

55. Takes it easy: LOLLS.

59. Nickname for Haydn: PAPA

60. Hawaiian strings: UKES.

61. Rollerball items: PENS I was trying to fit rollerskate-related items in here, then I looked at what I was holding in my hand.

63. Ability to pick things up?: ESP

65. Boxing legend: ALI. I know I've said before, I "met" Muhammad once in an elevator at Warner Bros. We had an understanding not to approach anyone you ran into on the lot, but I couldn't resist shaking his hand and calling him "Champ". He was an amazing man.

With that, here's the grid.

Steve

Notes from C.C.:

Good luck to Picard (Robert), who's having a major surgery today. Please send positive thoughts to his way.

Picard and his Wife, Tahoe, 2016