Sunday, March 19, 2017 Cheri Kedrowski and Victor Barocas

Theme: "Big Appetite" - The last words (all animals) are replaced by the bigger animals in the successive theme entries.

22A. Practice good web courtesy? : NOT HURT A SPIDER. Not hurt a fly (back to the reveal theme entry). Like the Jains. Fun clue. Made me think of Internet.

30A. Description of the start of some Road Runner cartoons? : ALONG CAME A BIRD. Along Came a Spider.

53A. Nibbles on Friskies? : EATS LIKE A CAT. Eats like a bird.

61A. Warning for a snoopy Snoopy? : CURIOSITY KILLED THE DOG. Grid spanner. Curiosity killed the cat.

73A. Treatment for a milk hangover? : HAIR OF THE COW. Hair of the dog.

95A. Line that might not calm down Richard III? : DON'T HAVE A HORSE. Don't have a cow. "My kingdom for a horse".

107A. Song that inspired this puzzle : I KNOW AN OLD LADY. I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly,

C.C. here. Alas, I have no memory of this song, despite a Jeffrey puzzle a few years ago.

Asked Boomer. He started to sing "... I don't know why she swallowed a fly. Perhaps she'll die...". Then I checked the Wiki page and understood the rationale of Cheri and Victor's approach. Quite neat. Orderly increase of animal size. 

Google shows that Cheri Kedrowski is a manager with 3M. This seems to be her debut. Congrats, Cheri!

You all know Victor Barocas, the very  talented and self-effacing crossword constructor and editor of our local Minnesota Crossword Tournament.

 Victor Barocas, David Liben-Nowell & Michael David

The 7 theme entries are all fairly long. Total 101 theme squares.  Heavy themage. Cheri and Victor still managed to put two great 11's and five 9's in the Down slots.

Across:

       

1. Plymouth Reliant, e.g. : K-CAR

5. Spanish cathedral city : LEON. Here is the cathedral.

9. Yawner : DRAG

13. Flakes in geology class : MICA

17. Language that gave us "bard" : ERSE

18. Magazine founder Eric : UTNE. Our local Barnes & Noble carries Uten Reader. But no LA Times.

19. Graceful leap : JETE. Clue echo with 36. Graceful leap : AXEL

20. Wasn't plumb : LEANED. I read it as "Wasn't plump".

25. With merchandise, say, as payments : IN KIND

26. Snack cake that can be deep-fried : TWINKIE. I meant to ask. Have any of you had these Oreo pies before? 

27. Author Morrison : TONI. Also 89. Mystery author Grafton : SUE

28. Bening of "The Kids Are All Right" : ANNETTE

29. Proof-ending abbr. : QED

33. Foot bone : TALUS

37. Clarifying words : AS IN. V as in Victor.

38. Non-discriminatory hiring abbr. : EOE

39. Et __ : ALII. Put in ALI? then wait.

40. Cruised through : ACED

41. Cool play area, maybe : RINK. Nice clue.

43. "Erie Canal" mule : SAL

45. Frequent mother-and-child painter : CASSATT (Mary)

47. Last verb in the Gettysburg Address : PERISH. "... shall not perish from the earth". Victor always digs deep for different clue angles.

49. Bar game : LIMBO

56. Supreme Roman : EMPEROR

58. Pamplona's kingdom : NAVARRE. Forgot. We had this a while ago.

59. '70s extremist gp. : SLA. Symbionese Liberation Army.

60. Boast opener : VENI. "veni, vidi, vici"

68. Scads : A TON

69. Chilean pronoun : ESO

70. Cellphone setting : VIBRATE

71. Rock band member : BASSIST

78. 1921 Valentino role : SHEIK

79. Breastbones : STERNA. I learned this word from an Alan Cumming/Fresh Air interview.

81. Not let go of : BELABOR

83. __ Moines : DES

85. Jackie's designer : OLEG (Cassini)

86. Tobacco plug : CHAW

88. Record, in a way : TIVO

91. Distinctive flavor : TANG. Also the last major Chinese dynasty with capital in my hometown Xi'an. Zhou, Qin, Han & Tang. That's how I got my Mandarin name.

93. Like details you'd rather be spared : GORY

94. In the stars : FATED

99. Tool for Cinderella : MOP

100. Remove from the box : UNCRATE

101. The __: Horace works : ODES

102. Small detail : MINUTIA

106. 1958 hit that won the first Song of the Year Grammy : VOLARE. Learning moment for me. Wiki says it's Italian for "To fly".

110. Puts up : ERECTS

111. Level : TIER

112. Humor that evokes winces : CORN

113. Myrtle or hazel : TREE

114. Thing to do : TASK

115. Postulates : SAYS

116. Joint for jumping : KNEE. Another nice clue.

117. Large septet : SEAS

Down:

1. Surrey neighbor : KENT

2. Fox's fabled flattery victim : CROW

3. Italian sparkler : ASTI

4. Burger successor : REHNQUIST. The Chief Justice when I first came here.

5. Shocking : LURID

6. Kitchen extension? : ETTE. Kitchenette. Also  55. Trick ending? : ERY. Trickery.

7. Bump-log link : ON A

8. Snugly situated : NESTLED

9. Muslim spirit : DJINN. Also JINNI.

10. Make anew, as a trench : RE-DIG

11. Downed : ATE

12. Lang. of Luther : GER

13. Pretend : MAKE BELIEVE.Also 64. Advantage : INSIDE TRACK. Sparkly 11s.

14. Ab __: from the start : INITIO 

15. Middle of England? : CENTRE. Normally a clue for ELL.

16. Threw in : ADDED

20. Housekeeping concern : LINENS

21. Sicilian province or its capital : ENNA

23. Maui music makers : UKEs

24. Combine : POOL

28. Port-au-Prince pal : AMI

30. Pink-slip : AXE

31. "That's enough!" : CAN IT

32. Poses : ASKS

33. Middle X, in a game : TAC

34. Roman wings : ALAE. Learned from doing crosswords.

35. Hall of Fame WNBA star __ Leslie : LISA Incredible career.

36. Ones seeking change : ACTIVISTS

40. Books with legends : ATLASES

41. Warehouse job : RECEIVING

42. Savings plan letters : IRA

44. European peak : ALP

46. "This comes __ surprise" : AS NO

47. Leave in the garage : PARK

48. Kept down : HELD AT BAY. Great fill as well.

50. Sitcom with the episode "Stable for Three" : MR. ED. Mister Ed is the preferred spelling. Rich also prefers Doctor Who rather than DR WHO.

51. Lead singer on "The Joshua Tree" : BONO

52. Not a copy: Abbr. : ORIG

54. Green Hornet's driver : KATO

 

57. First book of the New Testament : MATTHEW

59. Feudal peasant : SERF

61. Pickup artists? : CABS. Not CONS. The driver can be the "Pickup artist". Not the car itself. 

62. Bountiful locale : UTAH. Bountiful, Utah.

63. Left the ground : ROSE

65. Turkish coin : LIRA

66. Corp. raider's ploy : LBO. Leveraged Buyout.

67. Cad : HEEL

72. Devastating 2008 hurricane : IKE

73. Comic strip mother of Hamlet and Honi : HELGA. Hagar the Horrible.

74. "You __": Lionel Richie hit : ARE

75. Launches : CATAPULTS. Love this word.

76. Departure notice? : OBIT

77. Emulated Arachne : WOVE

80. Word with musical or muscle : TONE

82. Reel partner : ROD

84. With 92-Down, Monopoly prop. bordering the Electric Company : STATES. And 92. See 84-Down : AVE

 

86. Russian Civil War fighter : COSSACK

87. Maximilian I's realm: Abbr. : HRE

89. Chihuahua neighbor : SONORA

90. Ben and Sam : UNCLES

 

93. Gathered steam : GREW

94. Affectionate : FOND

95. Bed cover : DUVET. Not SHEET.

96. Playwright Moss : HART

97. Baklava sweetener : HONEY. I recall Baklava is favorite at the Spitzboov household. Best wishes for Betty's quick recovery! Relieved to hear the good news for your son too, Wilbur!

Spitzboov, Betty and Argyle

98. Glade targets : ODORS

99. "The Wrong Sort of Bees" author : MILNE

102. Seconds : MORE

103. Shipping deduction : TARE

104. Planning session input : IDEA

105. Positive words : AYEs

107. "__ Not Easy Being Green" : IT'S

108. Soul seller : KIA. Not FAUST. Great clue.

109. Nantes negative : NON

C.C.

Wednesday, November 25, 2015, Victor Borocas

THEME: BABY I'M YOURS!

Victor's clever Thanksgiving Eve offering takes the phrase BODY AND SOUL and uses these words to precede corresponding words in two-word fill phrases. 

17. Yorkshire pudding or bangers and mash : ENGLISH FOOD or 

BODY ENGLISH (Yaz '75)

SOUL FOOD (Beats Haggis!)

31. Game-ending declaration : CHECKMATE or

BODY CHECK

SOUL MATE (Mine!)

49. Genre of the '60s hits "Pipeline" and "Wipe Out" : SURF MUSIC or

                                                         BODY SURF

SOUL MUSIC

THEME REVEAL:

65. Wholeheartedly, or words that can precede the first and second parts, respectively, of 17-, 31- and 49-Across : BODY AND SOUL - Also a 1930 Jazz Standard covered recently by these two

Across      
   
1. Stop the launch : ABORT - When things aren't AOK

6. Perfume compound : ESTER

11. Sailor : TAR

14. Off-the-cushion shot : CAROM - What the hockey players are doing above

15. Usually multilayered dessert : TORTE

16. Load off one's mine? : ORE - C'mon, that's cute!

19. Sundial topper : XII - Oh my, I'm late, it's V after XII already!

20. Classic Belafonte song opening : DAYO - Heard in baseball parks today because fans want the runner to come home (Daylight come and me wan' go home)

21. Not tricked by : ONTO - Fool me once...

22. Homeric classic : ILIAD

24. Where heros are made : DELI

26. __ button : PANIC 

28. Sufferer healed by Jesus : LEPER - There's a powerful scene in the 1959 movie Ben-Hur showing a LEPER colony

35. Bledel of "Gilmore Girls" : ALEXIS 

37. Creative output : ART

38. Where billions live : ASIA - Over half the world lives inside this circle

39. Watch someone's kids : SIT - Care.com says the avg. babysitting rate is $13/hr

40. Lightweight shirts : CAMISES - I had a great time looking for examples but I'll leave it to you

43. Television : SET

44. Ellington's "Take __ Train" : THE A - "Soon you'll be on Sugar Hill in Harlem"

46. "Et alia" lang. : LAT

47. Letter-erasing key : DELETE

52. Wyoming's __ Range : TETON

53. Benjamin of "Law & Order" : BRATT - What a team!

54. Ibuprofen target : ACHE 

56. Trapdoor location : FLOOR - "Uh, we decided to work as a duo"

58. Capital south of Lillehammer : OSLO - "How do I clue thee? Let me count the ways?"

60. Ottawa-based law gp. : RCMP

64. Not in the clergy : LAY

68. __ well : OIL - Awl if you're from the oil patch 

69. Actress Téa : LEONI

70. "Inferno" poet : DANTE

71. Opposite of post- : PRE - Way to go, Paul (whoever you are)!

72. Diving ocean birds : ERNES

73. Prince Charming's mount : STEED - One cartoonish member of the RCMP had a STEED he named, uh, Horse

Down

1. More than just passed : ACED

2. See 25-Down : BANA - Okay

3. Frenzied revelry : ORGY

4. Low-tech card file : ROLODEX

5. "No more details, please" : TMI - "Then after they opened my lower colon..."

6. Sharing a common culture : ETHNIC

7. Low on the Mohs scale : SOFT - From talc to diamonds

8. Highway officers : TROOPERS - For a real time warp hoot, play these episodes on YouTube!

9. WWII area : ETO - European Theater of Operations

10. Symbol of losses : RED INK - Ken (64A) was in the (68A) business and accumulated a lot of this

11. Dead weight in a portfolio : TOXIC ASSET - Owning a company with a lot of 10D

12. Opera number : ARIA

13. Senator Harry : REID

18. Sun, in Sonora : SOL - A sunny taco?

23. Peru's largest city : LIMA - 73F forecast for today

25. With 2-Down, "Hulk" star : ERIC - Okay

27. Did something : ACTED - Carpe Diem for crying out loud!!

28. Endures : LASTS

29. Philanthropist Yale : ELIHU - Some on his campus want its John C. Calhoun Resident College renamed 

30. "Everybody Loves Raymond" actor : PETER BOYLE

32. French-speaking island country : HAITI - Annual per capita income is $350

33. Connect with : TIE TO - A POSSE might TIE their STEEDS TO this

34. Consumed : EATEN

36. Pierre's toast : SALUT - or "à votre santé" - To your health!

41. Elephant ancestor : MASTODON

42. Son of Adam : SETH - Genesis says when  Adam was 130 yrs. old, he  had SETH to replace Abel

45. __-American : AFRO

48. Ogles obliquely : LEERS AT

50. Sculptor's medium : MARBLE - The David took Michelangelo 2 years after he took over the project

51. French port on the Strait of Dover : CALAIS - One ETO strategy was to convince Hitler that D-Day would occur at the much closer Calais. p.s. Do you see some cwd friends on this map?

55. Sell a bridge to, say? : CON

56. Producer's nightmare : FLOP

57. Hideaway : LAIR - Remnants of Hitlers first military headquarters - The Wolf's LAIR

59. Word sung after the ball drops : SYNE

61. Construction area marker : CONE

62. Remote button : MUTE   

63. Begged : PLED

66. Not 'neath : OER

67. Canine doc's deg.? : DDS - Am I the only one who chose DVM first?

Arts/Sports crossover - I'll bet most of you know the Broadway play where Joe Boyd (Avg. Joe?) received a BODY to be a great baseball player by selling his SOUL to the devil.

Friday, November 6, 2015, Victor Barocas

Theme: Letter rip.

For those of you who do not like creative and difficult puzzles, this effort from University of Minnesota Professor Victor B. will not be pleasant. When you have clues such as AAEGIMRR, there are those who will pull out Thumper and move on. You have to assume the reveal is also the seed entry as the grid is a 16x15 presentation.  Basically you are doing a big JUMBLE where you have to unscramble the clue and fit it with a word meaning to unscramble. Or looking at from the reveal, you take a word and or phrase and list the letters alphabetically. The challenge was  to create four interesting 16 letter theme fill. Some will grouse because two answers are two words and one only a single word, but I had fun as this took me longer than most Fridays to suss. With 16 columns you have room for lots of sparkly fill. I loved EVANDER, INHALER, DAY TRIPPER,  STAY ON HOLD and the three Bs BANISHED, BEEFCAKE and BEREAVED. We also had the challenging GALENA and SHARIA. Okay, let's hop on the solving train.

18A. AAEGIMRR : ARRANGED MARRIAGE (16). The word marriage is taken apart and re-imagined with its letters presented alphabetically.

28A. AACDEINNV : ORDERED IN ADVANCE (16).

47A. ADEHLNRTUY : SORTED THE LAUNDRY (16).

and the reveal:

62A. ILST ... and each of three other puzzle clues : ALPHABETIZED LIST (16).

Across

1. They're bought and soled : SHOES. Victor has had some very fun pun puzzles in the NYT. Those of us who also toiled away at the puns and anagram puzzles were prepared for today.

6. Educational foundation : ABCS.

10. Lowest part : BASSO.

15. Make like a tree, facetiously : LEAVE. More silliness.

16. "Uh-huh" : YEAH.

17. Butyl acetate, e.g. : ESTER. He is after all a professor in Biomedical engineering.

21. Balkan region : BOSNIA. We Americans are so weak in Geography, as seen nightly on Jeopardy.

22. Wild period : SPREE.

23. Edible tuber : YAM. Gotta love a good tuber. Can you name an inedible tuber?

24. __ Plantation, site of the world's largest maze : DOLE. A Pineapple Garden Maze in Hawaii.

26. Sun Valley locale : IDAHO. More potatoes.

35. Sea sound : ROAR.

36. One of Suetonius' "Twelve Caesars" : NERO. I do love this HISTORY.

37. Actor Hawke : ETHAN.

38. Youngest March sister : AMY. Little Women.

39. Sent away : BANISHED.

42. Make a selection : OPT.

43. "I've got this one" : LET ME.

45. Wax on an envelope, say : SEAL.

46. Robert of "The Sopranos" : ILER. The misunderstood SON.

51. Structural opening? : INFRA. Infrastructural.

52. Angler's prize : FISH. We had a discussion of the word angler recently.

53. Lack of continuity : GAP.

55. Old painting sites : CAVES. Nice clue.

58. More pinlike? : NEATER. Neater than a pin; does it mean orderly or shiny?

65. Not hold one's peace : SPEAK. Nearby the opposite 67A. Of few words : TERSE.

66. Domain : RULE.

68. Game that may involve complicated shots : HORSE.

69. Mediterranean feeder : NILE.

70. Three-layer treats : OREOS. Clue 900 for this cookie.

Down

1. Thick mass : SLAB. Of meat?

2. Rescuer, often : HERO.

3. Marine propulsion aids : OARS. Nice visual.

4. Heavyweight champ between Buster and Riddick : EVANDER. Holyfield in between Douglas and Bowe.  he had his ear then.

5. __ citizen : SENIOR. We had a luncheon at the office to meet a new lawyer joining the firm and of the 30 people there I was clearly the oldest.

6. Mate's affirmative : AYE. Aye, Aye.

7. Garden spots : BEDS. Cute.

8. Like-minded group : CAMP. Tricky, I am in the puzzle lover camp.

9. Islamic law : SHARIA. Do want to know MORE?

10. Mourning : BEREAVED.

11. "Take me __ am" : AS I.

12. Wait for help, perhaps too long : STAY ON HOLD. I really like this fill and hate staying on hold.

13. Genesis creator : SEGA. Video games.

14. Home of Utah Valley University : OREM.

19. Lead ore : GALENA. Time to LEARN.

20. Comedian Foxx : REDD. Do you want to LISTEN? Not PG rated.

25. First place? : EDEN. Really nice misdirection.

27. Porkpie, for one : HAT.

28. Advanced tests : ORALS.

29. "What light through yonder window breaks?" speaker : ROMEO.Tis Juliet and our Friday William S.

30. Other side of "We Can Work It Out" : DAY TRIPPER.

31. Like Jameson whiskey : IRISH. The favorite of Father Blackie Ryan.

32. Long time ending? : NO SEE. Or as some say, "It's been donkey years."

33. Heist, say : CAPER.

34. Contest form : ENTRY. PCH has gotten my wife hooked.

39. "Magic Mike" feature : BEEFCAKE. The TRAILER. (2:29)

40. " ... on the sand, / __ sunk, a shattered visage lies": "Ozymandias" : HALF. Inspired by the discovery of a huge remnant of a statute to Ramses II, Shelley wrote this poem which begins:

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown...

41. Paige of British musical theatre : ELAINE. I am unfamiliar with this STAR.

44. Map feature with an elev. : MTN. Mountain, the elev. tells you it is an abbreviation.

46. Asthma sufferer's relief : INHALER.

48. Boring : DRAB.

49. Ale seller : TAVERN. Will Tin is happy.

50. No longer bothered by : USED TO.

53. Severe wound : GASH.

54. Dinner for Spot : ALPO.

56. Little case : ETUI.

57. Window frame part : SILL. Or sash.

59. Weary : TIRE. Verb not adjective.


60. Canadian gas brand : ESSO. Part of the Exxon Mobil family and the brand I grew up with.

61. GPS info : RTES.

63. Is down with : HAS.

64. Zipper opening? : ZEE. Well Z is an appropriate place to end a puzzle.

A shorter version, but my remaining brother is in the hospital so you all get to fill in the rest of the blanks I never got to say. Thanks Victor. Lemonade out.

Thursday, February 5, 2015 Victor Barocas

Theme: "Elementary, Watson!"

Let's start with the unifier. 59-Across. Device for exposing the end of 17-, 24-, 35- or 47-Across : DETECTOR. And there are four zippy phrases in today's grid to go with it:

17-Across. "You don't look a day over 29," probably : WHITE LIE. The US Federal government calls a LIE DETECTOR test a "psychophysiological detection of deception" test, or PDD.

24-Across. Didn't come to pass : WENT UP IN SMOKE. Everyone should have functioning SMOKE DETECTORs in their home.

35-Across. Flooring phrase : PEDAL TO THE METAL. Splynter, a stud finder could be a type of METAL DETECTOR, right?

47-Across. So as not to be noticed : UNDER THE RADAR. RADAR DETECTORs are illegal in D.C. and Virginia, but all other states allow them in passenger cars.

A few missteps, but fairly easy for a Thursday.  Let me show you what I mean.

Across

1. Parlor action : BETS. Nailed it!

5. Dorm peer leaders: Abbr. : RAs. Resident Assistants / Advisors.

8. Lidless container : CARAFE. Wine!

14. Palm that produces purple berries : ACAI. This is becoming a crossword staple.

15. CPR giver : EMT. Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation / Emergency Medical Technician.

16. Missouri River city : PIERRE. And a clecho at 38-Down. Missouri River city : OMAHA. Map.

19. One may use a teleprompter : ORATOR.

20. IM guffaw : LOL. Instant Message: Laugh Out Loud.

21. Hustled : RACED.

23. Points in math class : LOCI.

28. Chorus for the villain : HISSES.

29. "Dang!" : NUTS.

30. Fellow : GENT.

31. Drink with sushi : SAKE. Pronounced sah'-kee, for heaven's sake!

32. Cow or sow : SHE.

40. Promos : ADs.

41. General organization? : ARMY. Cute misdirection.

42. Tetra holder : TANK. We just had a discussion about tetras and bettas a couple of weeks ago.

43. Reining word : WHOA.

44. "Given the circumstances ..." : AS IT IS...

51. Stories of the ages : LORE.

52. Invalidate : ANNUL.

53. Vacation destination : SPA. Aah..

56. Wanted badly : CRAVED.

61. __ Pie : ESKIMO. Are they un-PC? We no longer see Inuits referred to by that name.

62. Great Basin native : UTE. "What's a UTE?"

63. Orkin victim : PEST. Duh, I was thinking of the Orek brand vacuum cleaner, and filled in "dust."

64. Pull out of the water : REEL IN.

65. TD's half-dozen : PTs. Touch Downs are worth six Points.

66. Gorillas, e.g. : APES.


Down

1. Go through a lot of tissues : BAWL. Because "have an allergy attack" didn't fit.

2. Tunnel effect : ECHO.

3. Help from behind : TAIL WINDS.

4. Gather dust : SIT.

5. "I can __" : RELATE.

6. __ curiae: friend of the court : AMICUS. I did not know the term, but it was easy enough to infer with "friend" in the clue.

7. Tough to climb : STEEP.

8. Nav. noncom : CPO. Chief Petty Officer.  Do they have a lot of nits to pick?

9. Word before base or ball : AIR. Neither of them have anything to do with baseball. AIR base is a USAF facility, and an AIR ball is a basketball term for a shot that completely misses the rim, the net and the backboard.

10. Kingdoms : REALMS.

11. Skywalker associate, familiarly : ARTOO.

12. Monastic garment : FROCK. The word "cappuccino" is derived from the color of the Capuchin monks' FROCKs.

13. Inducing the willies : EERIE.

18. Sea eagles : ERNS.

22. Kitchen dweller of song : DINAH. "I've Been Working on the Railroad." Meanwhile, DINAH is getting all friendly with some banjo player in the kitchen.

25. Spanish 101 verb : ESTA. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that it means "this" or "that"?

26. Cook quickly, in a way : NUKE.

27. Half-note feature : STEM.

28. Obey : HEED.

30. Campus no. : GPA. Grade Point Average.

31. Farm home : STY.

32. Unit between levels : STAIR STEP. Hand up for wanting "case" before STEP?

33. Prince in "Frozen" : HANS. WAG, with the H-A-N-* in place.

34. Large grazer : ELK.

36. Cowardly Lion player : LAHR.

37. Bouncy pace : TROT.

39. Sundance Kid's girlfriend : ETTA. I think the "Place that Sundance loved" clue has seen better days.

43. Boll eater : WEEVIL.

44. Actor Will of "The Lego Movie" : ARNETT. All perps.

45. Many diner dishes : SAUTÉS. "Greasy" just wasn't working with the perps.

46. Not working : IDLE.

47. Stress-related ailment, possibly : ULCER.

48. Language on a longship : NORSE. Longships were the epitome of Viking naval power.

49. 16th-century circumnavigator : DRAKE. His Golden Hind was not a long boat, but it did make a long trip.

50. Turn out : END UP.

54. Prepare for a shot : POSE.

55. Song and dance : ARTS.

57. Former Abbey Road Studios owner : EMI. Electric and Musical Industries, Ltd. I always mix this up with BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.)

58. "GoodFellas" boss : DON.

60. IRA suggester : CPA. Individual Retirement Accounts are often suggested by Certified Public Accountants.

That's it from me!
Marti

Saturday, Nov 1st, 2014, Victor Barocas

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing F,J,Q,X,Z)

Blocks: 29

  Today marks Victor's Saturday themeless debut - as far as I can tell - for the LAT.  I just dove right in, not having had any experience with this constructor on the weekend; his last LAT contribution was almost a year ago - Nov 20th, a Wednesday.  Got to talking to the waitress about her costume, with the cat ears and the tail...WHERE WAS I~? - Oh, yes - Nothing terribly obscure, a few witty clues, and alas, one bad cell, so no "Ta-DA~!"  Two triple 9-letter corners, a pair of 9-letter downs, and two 8-letter acrosses intersecting a pair of 8-letter downs;

3d. Blue wall decorations : EROTIC ART - Hmmm, let me see if I can find any - I really like the implication in this piece - sort of M.C. Escher

Julian Murphy art

32d. Salad ingredients : SCALLIONS - I like to read about how friends here at the blog trade food advice and recipes - just not in the place to try them myself - yet

Asian Scallion Salad

O-rabbit N-rabbit W-rabbit ARD~!

ACROSS:

1. End of a digression : "WHERE WAS I~?" - as I was saying....

10. Christmas flier : COMET - Ah....SLED and SLEIGH did not fit; then the V-8 can flew....and then a clecho, to boot; 42d. Christmas flier : DASHER - Reindeer~!  This Christmas season is a 'short' one at UPS; just 3 weeks, 3 days between Thanksgiving and Dec. 25th - I already know I am working a full 8hrs on Black Friday - at triple time.  Nice~!

15. Like Gene Kelly's dancing : ACROBATIC

16. Ski resort north of Mount Snow : OKEMO

17. Pollster's challenge : CLOSE RACE

18. Stand in for : ACT AS

19. Wear out : TIRE - FLAG, FAIL, WANE

20. Haywire : KABLOOIE - Odd spelling, but the "word" is common enough

22. Circus prop : STILT - because tent pole was too long ( get it~?)

24. Lyra's brightest star : VEGA - Nailed it - but I am a big fan of astronomy

25. Rosencrantz or Guildenstern : ROLE - Shakespeare characters; DANE anyone~?

26. Netlike : LACY - I threw in "HOLY", but I knew it should have been HOLEY

27. Cabs may be lined up at one : WINE BAR - HAR-HAR~!!! Cabernets - but then again, I would hope to see taxis, too....

29. After : A LA - "in style of", "modeled after"

30. Soaks (up) : SOPS

31. Like some bread : YEASTY

35. Reasons for some low scores : BIRDIES - Ah, golf; I was thinking FICO scores ( I am having an issue with mine right now ), and then SAT/school test scores

37. Handy thing to have when you need a break? : POOL CUE - Har-har~!!  I have two pool cues; a Sneaky Pete for playing, and another for the break - usually puts a lot of stress on the stick

38. Zen awakening : SATORI

39. Arabian checker : REIN - Clever misdirection; I was thinking of some type of Middle Eastern game piece - but we're looking for the Arabian, as in the horse, and the check-er

40. Turkish honorific : AGA

41. Expose a card, say : MIS-DEAL

43. Narrow strip : SLAT

44. Cuisine with a condiment called nam pla : THAI - WAG

47. Body __ : MASS

48. Attacks, as with snowballs : PELTS

49. Campaign fund : WAR CHEST

51. Vier minus eins : DREI - German, 4 minus 1

52. Sundance showing : INDIE - I tried MOVIE, knew it was too simple for Saturday; still, I was 40% right, right?

53. It's usually an eagle : HOLE IN ONE - Here I was on the golf wavelength, but I couldn't s-t-r-e-t-c-h TWO UNDER to fit; on a par-3, a two-under would be a "one"

57. "A Confederacy of Dunces" author : TOOLE - learning moment for me; published after the author's suicide

58. Clinton had a big role in its construction : ERIE CANAL - ah, that Clinton - a little history

59. Begat : SIRED

60. Held in : REPRESSED - I will refrain from my favorite Monty Python movie....um, no, I won't....see it @2:00

DOWN:

1. WWII female : WAC - Women's Army Corps

2. Digestive aid, to chemists : HCl - Hydrochloric Acid

4. How a pollyanna sees the world : ROSILY

5. "I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie" author : EBERT - Roger's take on the movie "North", and how it went on to become more

6. Hard or soft finish? : WARE - HardWARE,  SoftWARE

7. __ loss : AT A

8. Nauseates : SICKENS

9. Glaciation period : ICE AGE

10. Combustible rock : COAL

11. 1881 trouble spot : O.K. CORRAL

12. "I'm with you" : "ME TOO~!" - also the name of Luke Skywalker's other, self-centered, R2 unit

13. Outlook service : E-MAIL

14. "__ a world in a grain of sand": Blake : TO SEE - I could not parse this in the 'down', and having it cross OKEMO did not help

21. Nursery bottle contents : BABY OIL

22. Hunks : SLABS

23. Shire in films : TALIA

24. Limo riders : VIPs

27. "Alack!" : "WOE IS ME~!"

28. Many millennia : AEON - I had EONS first

30. iPhone speaker : SIRI - I have an Android phone and tablet; did you hear that Apple is working on a vacuum to compete with the Dyson?  It's called the "i-Suck"

33. Try to dislodge, perhaps : TUG AT

34. "Leda and the Swan" poet : YEATS

36. Home : DOMICILE

37. Pod occupants : PEAS

39. Make whole again : RESTORE

43. Perceived to be : SEEN AS

44. Ridicules : TWITS - I do not know why I went with twiPs, and Poole, especially with POOL CUE in the puzzle and my mother's favorite insult for the Rangers when they're losing ( "those twits" ) - but I did....

45. Asian capital : HANOI

46. Zeal : ARDOR

48. Haggler's target : PRICE

50. Mind : HEED

51. Roebuck, but not Sears : DEER - nyuck-nyuck-nyuck

54. Word with stick or service : LIP - Lipstick, Lip Service; the smell of some lipsticks is very erotic; see 3d.

55. "Auld Scotland wants __ skinking ware": Burns : NAE

56. Days of yore, in days of yore : ELD

Splynter