Sunday, April 14, 2024 ~ Tom Pepper & Zhouqin Burnikel

"Rock 'n' Roll"

Good morning! Today we are treated to a puzzle by two veteran constructors - one of which started our little haven on the internet.  Let's crank-up the tunes and see what Tom & C.C. really mean by the puzzle's title.

22. Place for a rock: SOLITAIRE RING. ROCKs and ice are slang for diamonds.

Solitaire Diamond

27. Place for a roll: CRAPS TABLE. ROLL the dice on craps.

Craps Table

34. Place for a rock: CURLING MATCH. Curling is a Winter Olympics sport where you push a stone, aka the ROCK (don't confuse that with Dwayne Johnson), to the goal.

Maybe someone can explain what he's doing

58. Place for a roll: SUSHI PLATTER.

Yummers!

84. Place for a rock: ROSHAMBO GAME. Aka ROCK, paper, scissors.

105. Place for a roll: BOWLING ALLEY. I doubt there's anything coincidental about this Shout-Out to Boomer. In bowling you ROLL a ball towards the pins.

112. Place for a Rock: COMEDY CLUB. Chris ROCK is a standup comedian. He's also had starring ROLes in Movies.

Chris Rock

123. Place for a roll: TAPE DISPENSER. A ROLL of Tape.

Across:
1. Bugs: NAGS AT.

Let's keep with the Theme

7. Flat-topped hills: MESAS.

12. Faux wood in a fireplace: GAS LOG.

18. Pass by: ELAPSE.

19. Harding biopic: I TONYA.

21. Chihuahua coin: CENTAVO. 1/100th of a currency.

One Centavo

22. [See: Theme]

24. 1984 Jeff Bridges film that begins with a UFO crash: STARMAN.

   
                                          David Bowie's 1972 Starman

25. Shorthand system: STENO.

26. Just: MERE.

27. [See: Theme]

29. Geometry calculation: AREA.

31. U.S. intel org.: NSA. National Security Agency.

33. "Trainwreck" director Judd: APATOW.

Judd Apatow IMDb

34. [See: Theme]

39. Carbon compound: ENOL.

40. Short evening wear?: PJS.  Pajamas.

43. Driver's assignment: Abbr.: RTE. Route.

44. Microsoft Office default typeface until 2007: ARIAL.
 

Arial Font

45. Ore-Ida side, familiarly: TOTS.

Napoleon Dynamite

47. Tech company with an exclamation point: YAHOO.

Yep, it's got an exclamation mark.

49. Envelope abbr.: ATTN. Attention.

51. Burden: ONUS.

52. Take a break: PAUSE.

55. Hulu alternative: ROKU.

56. Left high and dry: MAROONED.

58. [See: Theme]

61. __ as punch: PROUD. I'm aware of pleased as punch but not proud as punch.  I've heard of PROUD as a peacock and love PROUD Mary (I know this is CCR's song but...

Tina's version really ROCKS!)

62. Bring home: EARN.

64. Shopping cart count: ITEMS.

65. Choice words?: ORS.

66. Fit together, as some dolls: NEST.

Matryoshka HUMOR

69. Brobdingnagian: GIANT.

71. Barbecue fuel: COAL.

73. Kung __ chicken: PAO.

Recipe

76. Booze: SAUCE. Slang for alcohol.

78. Bit attachment: REIN.

80. Dave Barry genre: HUMOR.

From 2010

84. [See: Theme]

87. Natural ability: APTITUDE.

90. Mammal with more gray matter than a human: ORCA. I'm assuming brain cells and not gray hair.

91. Caesar __: SALAD.

92. Nabe in lower Manhattan: SOHO. South of HOuston [St.] is a neighborhood. There's also a Soho [South of Horton] in London which I learned from The Who.
 

Lyrics
I woke up in a SOHO doorway / A policeman knew my name
He said, "You can go sleep at home tonight / If you can get up and walk away"

93. Miami Heat coach Spoelstra: ERIK.

Eric Spoelstra

94. Buy time: STALL.

Panic! At the Disco - STALL Me.

96. Australia's national gemstone: OPAL.

98. In the midst of: AMONG.

100. Pub pintful: ALE.

101. Orecchiette shape: EAR.

102. Asgard god: ODIN.

105. [See: Theme]

108. Actress Jennifer in Capital One commercials: GARNER.

Jennifer Garner

110. Letters after nus: XIS. Greek to me.

111. "Othello" villain: IAGO.

112. [See: Theme]

116. Matching: SAME.

118. Put in more chips, say: RAISE.

122. Stretch with no landmarks: OPEN SEA.

123. [See: Theme]

126. Firsthand accounts: MEMOIRS. Here's one I recently read.

Number One is Walking

127. Fast and furious: HECTIC.

128. Sharp kitchen tool: PEELER.

129. Tons: OCEANS.

130. Knobs on a pipe organ: STOPS.

131. Respected ones: ELDERS. Pop taught us to respect our elders. Now I am (usually) one.

Down:
1. Loch in hoax photos: NESS.

2. Tons: ALOT.

3. Strong wind: GALE.

4. Word with column or cord: SPINAL.
 

Given the theme, this fill just screams for the Trailer.

5. Oregon's oldest city: ASTORIA.

6. Cha, chai, or matcha: TEA.

7. Bog down: MIRE.

8. 2021 Marvel movie directed by Chlo Zhao: ETERNALS.

9. Most tender: SOREST.

10. "32 Flavors" singer DiFranco: ANI.

From NPR's Tiny Desk Concert

11. Bring into alignment: SYNC.

12. Arrives at: GETSTO.

13. Chess legend Karpov: ANATOLY.

World Chess HoF Inductee

14. Milkshake insert: STRAW.

15. Meat common in Greek cuisine: LAMB.

16. Shape of sesame seeds: OVAL.

17. No longer there: GONE.

20. Indian city with a mausoleum: AGRA.

21. House channel: CSPAN.

23. "Just think ... ": IMAGINE.

John Lennon

28. Hairy Halloween costume: APE SUIT. I kept wanting to fill Itt.

Wednesday and Itt

30. Disgraced energy company: ENRON. I know many folks that lost their job in the tower next to One Allen. Chevron owns ENRON's old building now.

The "Crooked E" should have been a clue.

32. Make a scene?: ACT.

34. Swimmer's woe: CRAMP.

35. __ Pradesh: Indian state: UTTAR.

There it is!

36. Fashionably dated: RETRO.

Groovy, eh?

37. "All in the Family" spinoff: MAUDE. Spin-off in the '70's starring Bea Arthur.

10:32 of fun.

38. Short trips: HOPS.

40. Part of a magazine spread: PHOTO.
 

Def Leppard - PHOTOgraph

41. Class clown: JOKER.

42. Some whiskey drinks: SOURS.

46. Largest island in French Polynesia: TAHITI.

There it is!

48. Wall flowers, perhaps: ART.

50. Wall or flower: NOUN. Cute.

53. Architect's detail, briefly: SPEC. Specification on a blueprint.

54. Muppet who never says "I": ELMO. He always refers to himself by Elmo.

57. Port city south of Kyiv: ODESA. Two 'S' ODESSA is an oil-town in West Texas.

58. __ Lankan rupee: SRI.

59. Take heat from?: UNARM. Cute.
 

Smashing Pumpkins - Disarm

60. Japan's largest beermaker: ASAHI.

63. Factor in sibling rivalry, often: AGE GAP.

67. Costco rival, familiarly: SAMS.

68. Bulky brass instrument: TUBA.
 

Bohemian Rhapsody on Euphonium, TUBA, Piano & Drums

70. Bridal bio word: NEE.

72. Instrument for a troubadour: LUTE.

73. Counterpart of poetry: PROSE.

74. Place for a stent: AORTA.

75. Prized statuette: OSCAR.

77. Sanders, for one: COLONEL.

79. "No Logo" author Klein: NAOMI.  A Canadian author. I didn't know of this book but I know of her The Shock Doctrine.

Naomi Klein

81. Big picture?: MURAL.

82. Black swan of ballet: ODILE. Odile is the black swan maiden and the secondary antagonist in Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake.

83. Type in again: REKEY. Reenter the data.

85. Rogue computer of sci-fi: HAL. It did tell Dave it was sorry.

2001 A Space Odyssey's HAL.

86. Small amount: A DAB.

88. Hypocritical sorts: PHONIES.

89. Polynesian kingdom with more than 170 islands: TONGA.

There it is!

92. Tortilla chip topper: SALSA DIP.

95. Adds, as paper to a copier: LOADS IN. 500 sheets (a ream) at a time.

97. Fish in some omelets: LOX.

99. Series of bad takes: GAG REEL. The bloopers.

103. Appliances with drums: DRYERS.

Anatomy of a Dryer

104. Ancient Cuzco dwellers: INCAS.

106. Not tricked by: WISE TO.

107. Gave for a short time: LOANED.

108. Italian city known for salami: GENOA.

109. Oldest of the Pointer Sisters: RUTH.

The Pointer Sisters - I'm So Excited

112. Lombardy lake: COMO.

113. Cartel founded in Baghdad: OPEC. Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

114. Widely shared post: MEME.

A Maude Callback

115. Sweeties: BAES. #TeenSpeak

117. Karaoke gear: MICS. The first Karaoke machine was the Sparko Box invented by Shigeichi Negishi in 1967. Negishi passed last January at the age of 100. Here's CNN's report.

119. Castaway's home: ISLE. You could be MARRONed there.

120. One who's forward-looking: SEER.

121. Makes a misstep: ERRS.

124. Interest rate fig.: PCT. The percentage rate for your LOAN.

125. Safety gear for ER workers: PPE. Personal Protective Equipment.

Covid PPE

The Grid:

The Grid

WOs: Gust->GALE, here->GONE, apr->PCT
ESPs: COMO, ROSHAMBO, GARNER, ERIK
Fav: UNARM as clued.

I hope y'all found at least one song to ROCK out to.  And, if not, at least enjoyed the rest of the expo.

Cheers, -T

Saturday, November 18, 2023, Tom Pepper, Zhouqin Burnikel

  Saturday Themeless by Tom Pepper and Zhoquin Burnikel 

Tom has been a great friend of C.C.'s for years and after she suffered the loss of Boomer, he really stepped up and helped her through those hard days. Tom is also a constructor and has collaborated with C.C. on previous puzzles. This one was full of cleverness from top to bottom and it took me 30 fun minutes to earn my "got 'er done".

This is a lovely picture from June of 2019 of Tom's wife Terri, Boomer, Tom and C.C. Our lovely blogmistress told me that Tom is 6'5" and would probably beat me at golf. Tom is the finance director for the city of Egan, MN and here is a nice interview with him.

Across:

1. Online confirmation: I'M NOT A ROBOT - Look familiar?

12. __ sum: DIM - Dim sum is a large range of small Cantonese dishes that are traditionally enjoyed in restaurants for brunch.

15. Keyboard solo with several movements: PIANO SONATA - I only know of Beethoven's SONATA No. 14 better known as he haunting Moonlight Sonata 

16. Lab eggs: OVA.

17. "Thoughts?": ANY COMMENTS - At the bottom of all my write-ups.

18. Auction gesture: NOD.

19. Out of juice: DEAD - The indication of the problem and the solution

20. Some two-yr. degrees: AAS.

21. Leave no doubt about: ASSURE.

23. Yearbook gp.: SRS.

24. Covered with beads?: SWEATY 😀

25. Chai spice blend: MASALA - To most Westerners, it is a little known fact that the word 'chai' simply means 'tea' in Hindi. Therefore, all teas are technically chai. In America, the word 'chai' has come to mean tea with a generous amount of spices often served as a deliciously sweetened latte. You're welcome.

29. Sound quality?: HEALTH 😀 Would "Sound as a dollar" be a good thing these days?

30. Try to get in: APPLY.

31. Place where people might exchange rings: PAWN SHOP 😀

33. Utah's state rock: COAL - Info on Utah's state mineral, rock and gem

34. Trees rich in terpenes: PINES - Terpine info

Conifer resin like in
this PINE can be used
to make terpines

35. "This Is Us" director Ken: OLIN.

37. Field that involves drawing and folding: PRO POKER - 😀 I got the POKER reference right away but had to play around with the rest of the fill

39. Bring up to date, say: AMEND - Augusta National did AMEND its membership policy in 2012. More info

40. Does taxing work online?: E-FILES - Turbo Tax finds all the right forms, remembers what I put in last year, does the computations and E-FILES for me. 

41. Pamplona party: FIESTA - No Pamplona bulls here 😀; just the Spanish word for party.

42. Froths: SPUMES.

43. "I w-wish I'd brought a sw-sweater!": BRR.

44. "Don't rush me!": IN A SEC.

45. __ chi: TAI - Would you like to learn?

46. Post production?: NEWS - 😀

50. Title in "Game of Thrones": SER.

51. Undeveloped expanse: NATURAL AREA.

54. Body image?: TAT 😀

55. Prehistoric beast with a large bony frill: TRICERATOPS - There was a sick one in Jurassic Park

56. Sanctions: OKS.

57. Crystal and Rock, notably: OSCARS HOSTS - Here they are plus someone else...

Down:

1. Tablet with Procreate: IPAD.

2. Go for the gold?: MINE 😀 

3. Brand whose name derives from the Greek for "water nymph": NAYA.

4. Like much music of the 1990s: ON CD.

5. Besides: TOO.

6. Capital north of Addis Ababa: ASMARA - A 21 hour drive north 

7. Marinara ingredients: ROMAS - 

8. Binary digits: ONES - My age in Binary (base 2)

9. Secret rival: BAN 😀 I'm a Mennen Speed Stick man myself. TMI?

10. Senators' supporters, most likely: OTTAWANS - These are not in the capital building

11. Fringe elements: TASSELS.

12. Sweet centers: DONUT HOLES.

13. Shade similar to eggshell: IVORY.

14. Arrived just in time for: MADE - Hopefully they MADE the flight

22. Didn't go out: SAT HOME.

23. Calculating: SLY.

24. Pipes down?: SEWER 😀

25. Apple variety?: MAC - We have one with a 21" monitor.

26. Per person: A POP - These Super Bowl tickets went for $900 A POP at face value

27. Garage stock: SPARE PARTS 😀

28. The whole gang: ALL OF US.

29. Beefy-T brand: HANES - Made of heavier fabric

31. Medieval spears: PIKES - The protectors of the Pope, the Swiss Guard, carry one today

32. Bloodmobile unit: PINT.

34. Some racing leaders: POLE CARS - The POLE CAR has earned the right to be in the front row nearest the inside for the start. Historically they win the Indy 500 about twenty per cent of the time 

36. Confidentiality doc: NDA - All of Taylor Swift's employees sign a strict Non-Disclosure Agreement.

38. __ cheese: PIMENTO - A favorite of mine for over 60 years

39. Get out in the open: AIR.

41. Men following an order: FRIARS - 😀

42. Creep: SNEAK - Pink Panther music leapt to my mind

43. More exposed: BARER.

44. Colon, at times: IS TO - My guesses at the bottom

45. "__ & Bertie": animated series starring Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong: TUCA.

      Ali and Tiffany     

46. Gp. whose alphabet includes Romeo and Juliet: NATO - From Gary Alpha Romeo Yankee

47. God with wings: EROS.

48. Broke down: WEPT.

49. Fresh answers: SASS 😀

52. Classic game opener: TIC - Tac Toe

53. __-di-dah: LAH.

My analogy guesses are 1 E and 2 B.