Wednesday, July 19, 2017, Bruce Venzke and Gail Grabowski

TITLE: Sometimes you feel like a nut...

Bruce and Gail have given us a fun and straightforward Wednesday exercise with five theme fills and no reveal necessary. As the title indicates their five themers were two-word phrases where the first syllable of the first word began with an N and a T for the third letter, In between Bruce and Gail have inserted the vowels in sequential order. Pretty cool!

Theme Answers

17. Innate talent : NATURAL APTITUDE - I'm gonna say Samuel Rashevsky had this when he played and beat these masters at eight-years-old in 1920

22. Broadcaster's transmission to affiliated stations : NETWORK FEED - Fewer and fewer people are taking the NETWORK FEED and are watching over the, uh,  NET

39. Sharp-smelling air pollutant : NITROGEN DIOXIDE - NO2 is a big contributor to this smog over Mexico City

49. Hardly any time at all : NOTHING FLAT - He was there quickly but Arriba means Hooray, so he must have gotten great joy in running. BTW, this is not a slogan for a plastic surgeon.

60. With "The," Tchaikovsky work that ends with "Waltz of the Flowers" : NUTCRACKER SUITE - So that's NUTCRACKER when it is danced in Milan

NAT asked, "Am I a NUT or will this fun puzzle NET NOT one NIT? Here is the balance of this just right Bruce and Gail puzzle.


Across

1. Lower in price : LESS - Are you really shopping for the lowest price for this?

5. Try : TASTE

10. Nutmeg spice : MACE - Different parts of the same seed (not a nut)

14. Actor La Salle : ERIQ

15. Crams, with "up" : BONES

16. Sea of __: Black Sea arm : AZOV

20. "Wicked Game" singer Chris : ISAAK

21. Shuttle flight phase : REENTRY - Phase when the Columbia disaster occurred

25. "My gal" of song : SAL

26. Carpentry joints : MITERS

31. Barbecue accessory : SPIT - Ya couldn't think of a better name? 


35. "I Put a Spell on You" singer Simone : NINA

38. Full range : GAMUT - Bruce and Gail ran the GAMUT of vowels (okay, not Y but...)

42. Writer of tales with talking animals : AESOP 

43. Dental alternatives to pastes : GELS - Even for our 4-legged friends -->

44. Angers : IRES

45. Fireplace inserts : GRATES

47. Springfield presidential library nickname : ABE - Honestly!

56. Legendary Rhine siren : LORELEI - I have cruised on the Rhine but did not hear the Siren Song

59. Cruller coating : GLAZE

63. Physics particle : ATOM

64. French term of endearment : CHERE - Mon CHÈRE, passons à la suite de Casse-Noisette (My dear, let's go to the (same as in Italian above) Suite?

65. List component : ITEM

66. Tiny sound : PEEP

67. County near London : ESSEX - Home to Southend-on-Sea, Colchester and Chipping Ongar


68. Mil. medals : DSCS - 70 years later the country presented the Distinguished Service Cross posthumously to Lt. Donald Schwab of Hooper, NE. His son Dr. Terry Schwab accepted. 






  Down

1. Russian Revolution leader : LENIN - "I'll take Russian Leaders for $2,000, Alex." "The answer is, 'Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov was referring to this when he chose Lenin as a pseudonym.'"  "What is the Lena River?" "Correct!"

2. Backspace, perhaps : ERASE

3. Occupy, as a desk : SIT AT - What I could never do when I taught.

4. __ Valley, Calif.: 1960 Winter Olympics site : SQUAW - At this Olympics, Jean Vuarnet became to first person to win gold on metal skis instead of traditional wood

5. Sched. uncertainty : TBA

6. Big name in ISPs : AOL - Didn't everyone in America get at least one of these free disks in the 90's?

7. Wolf (down) : SNARF

8. Conical shelter : TEPEE - I had a geography prof who had women in our class put up a TEPEE as was done by many Native-American cultures as seen in this depiction of Blackfeet. BTW, that wouldn't fly at this house 

9. Regard highly : ESTEEM

10. Damon of "We Bought a Zoo" : MATT

11. Blue sky color, in Calais : AZUR

12. Showman Buffalo Bill : CODY - He built a great house in North Platte, Nebraska called Scout's Rest Ranch

13. Morn's counterpart : EVE

18. Bygone theaters : RKOS - Can you find the RKO symbol on this poster for what is called "America's greatest movie"?

19. Spectrum shade : INDIGO - ROY G BIV

23. Jingled : RANG

24. __ light: filming tool : KLIEG

27. Roll along the runway : TAXI - Returning to the gate after TAXIING is disheartening 

28. Qatari ruler : EMIR

29. Far from polite : RUDE

30. Some Fr. martyrs : STES - Women should be eligible to be priests, cardinals and popes not just STES (Saints)

31. Unexpected obstacle : SNAG

32. Harbor sight : PIER

33. "__ deal!" : IT'S A

34. Run leisurely : TROT

36. Storm direction: Abbr. : NNE - Nor'easter!

37. Dwight's opponent : ADLAI - I loved when ADLAI, as JFK's U.N. Ambassador, told the Russians he was willing to wait "until hell freezes over" for their answer on misses in Cuba.

40. Swiss army knife tool : OPENER - Wait a minute, oh, there it is!

41. Copyright pg. ID : ISBN - The International Standard Book Number for this book by our talented editor Rich Norris is 1402775806

46. Comfort in grief : SOLACE

48. Flan ingredients : EGGS

50. Computer repair experts : TECHS - Remember those guys you made fun of in school? 

51. Backpacking activities : HIKES

52. Transmission lubricant : FLUID


53. Milks, in Marseilles : LAITS - Quatre grandes bouteilles de LAIT (Four large bottles of milk)

54. Tenochtitlán native : AZTEC

55. Abounds (with) : TEEMS

56. Minstrel's instrument : LUTE

57. Plains native : OTOE

58. Law gp. that now only uses horses for ceremonial events : RCMP - RCMP member Dudley Do-Right's horse was named, uh, Horse

60. Go out for a bit? : NAP

61. Ode preposition : ERE

62. "Toy Story" dinosaur : REX

The Grid:

Comment at wall, I mean well, I mean will:

Wednesday, July 5, 2017, Agnes Davidson and C.C. Burnikel

TITLE: NOT HITTING ON ALL CYLINDERS

Husker Gary here reporting for the fifth time on work by the construction firm of Davidson and Burnikel. Our Irish Miss and C.C. have a two-level w/circles type of exercise today as you can see below. 

They placed the  word ILL in circles under three types of weather precipitation phenomena.  But wait, there's more! Neither the literal meanings of the word ILL nor the actual meteorological  use of the weather event were part of the theme fills. Land O' Goshen, that's makes for a fun Wednesday exercise!

My search for their devious gimmick was futile until I got the reveal at:

64. Not up to par ... or, aptly, what this puzzle's circled letters are : UNDER THE WEATHER which could also be shown in Wacky Wordie style (*solution to this at the bottom of the write-up)

I'll send out a persona "atta boy"/"atta girl" who got the theme without the circles

Theme answers:

20. Warble : TRILL UNDER 17. Overindulge (someone) at birthday time : SHOWER WITH GIFTS - GIFTS SHOWERED upon Kim Kardashian and her pending event of giving birth 

39. Nabisco snack brand : NILLA UNDER 34. Last-ditch gridiron pass : HAIL MARY - The Huskers beat Northwestern on this fabulous HAIL MARY pass from Ron Kellogg III to Illinois native Jordan Westerkamp 

50. Road incline : HILL UNDER 45. "I'm Moving On" country singer : HANK SNOW - Check out one of his opening acts who is billed with Onie Wheeler but below Slim Whitman

Now let's see what else these two fine ladies have "rained down" on us today:


Across

1. Go straight to the top? : PRAY - Sorry son, I don't think any deity really cares...

5. Crawling carpenters : ANTS - A $4 tube of MaxForce in a syringe got rid of ours

9. Made into a bundle : BALED - Round and rectangular BALES are now "high art" here on the prairie. 

14. Sport for the supersized : SUMO - Marie Osmond won't sell much product to them

15. "Unfaithful" co-star Richard : GERE

16. Join forces : UNITE

21. Figuratively : SO TO SPEAK

22. Circular power tool : SAW

24. Tarzan player Ron : ELY

25. Tetra- times two : OCTA


29. Set one's sights on, with "at" : AIMED - I love this cartoon about Lewis Grizzard's Hilarious book

31. "So long!" : BYE

36. Periodic pay : SALARY

40. And so on: Abbr. : ETC

42. Avant-garde jazzman who named himself after an Egyptian god : SUNRA - Right after I finished this puzzle, I googled this man because all the perps fit. It's amazing how few avant-garde jazz people I know

43. Country Style Steak Fries maker : OREIDA - Anybody got that phone # for Marie Osmond?

47. Pindar work : ODE - Not familiar with this Grecian odeist/odician/odeaphile... 

48. Charlotte __: creamy dessert : RUSSE

51. Permit : LET

52. Crumpets companion : TEA

54. Head honcho : TOP BANANA - George always acknowledged that Gracie was the TOP BANANA in this act

59. Starbucks flavor : MOCHA

66. Send (to) for a second opinion : REFER - George often REFERRED to Gracie as job security 

67. Steal, for slate: Abbr. : ANAG - ANAGRAM of each other

68. Lemon-like : TART

69. Like ogres : NASTY  - Fiona saw that that was not true!

70. "So Sick" R&B singer : NEYO - A artist who thinks lyrics today are too misogynistic 

71. Ironically, they might be even : ODDS


Down

1. Sibilant "Yo!" : PSST - Oh, sibilant refers to hissing not my siblings

2. River to the Rhine : RUHR

3. Mine, in Metz : AMOI

4. Pained cry : YOWL

5. Dept. concerned with rural development : AGR

6. Reuters, for one : NEWS WIRE - Originally named for when NEWS was transmitted literally over a telegraph, telephone or telex WIRE

7. Folk's Kingston __ : TRIO - Is your favorite on here?

8. Couch kin : SETTEE

9. Mobster Siegel : BUGSY - “My friends call me Ben,” he once said, “strangers call me Mr. Siegel, and guys I don’t like call me Bugsy, but not to my face.”

10. Had __: imbibed modestly : A NIP

11. Longest sentence : LIFE

12. Bluesy James : ETTA

13. Work at it : DESK

18. Trains over the street : ELS - Some say the car chase under the ELS in The French Connection was the best car chase ever

19. Ship storage areas : HOLDS

23. Designation for batteries, bonds or baseball teams : AAA - The first two might be more obvious than the last one where the Omaha Storm Chasers are this

 

25. "I can't believe it!" : OH NO

26. Egyptian capital : CAIRO - If you look closely in the lower left hand corner you can see what capital is spent in Egypt's, uh, capital

27. Like many floors : TILED

28. Kate's TV sidekick : ALLIE

30. Nessie and Bigfoot, by most accounts : MYTHS - and Ogres?

31. Get red in the face : BLUSH

32. New Age composer : YANNI - Please, no more YANNI!

33. Flynn of film : ERROL

35. Irate : MAD

37. Question : ASK

38. Two-masted boat : YAWL

41. Robinson Crusoe, notably : CASTAWAY - For the role in CASTAWAY, Tom Hanks shot the first part of the movie and then took a year off to lose 55 lbs. and finish shooting

44. "__ we all?" : AREN'T

46. Society page word : NEE

49. Pioneer Day celebrant : UTAHAN

51. King or Bird : LARRY

53. Physicians' org. : AMA

54. Go sour : TURN - Isn't this what you think of?

55. Draft designation : ONE-A

56. Some email attachments : PDF'S

57. Root often pickled : BEET - People seem to love 'em or hate 'em. I'm in the former camp, you?

58. Aloha State bird : NENE

60. Germany's von Bismarck : OTTO

61. African lake in four countries : CHAD - I couldn't name the other three countries either

62. Cattle collection : HERD

63. Music and dance, e.g. : ARTS

65. Freudian focus : EGO

* FEELING is literally UNDER WEATHER, hence FEELING UNDER the WEATHER 

Those of you who feel up to should now give us your opinion!

Wednesday June 28, 2017 Agnes Davidson & C.C. Burnikel

Theme: GAME CHANGER (60A. Ump's controversial call, perhaps ... and a hint to this puzzle's circles) - Each theme answer contains an anagram of a game. 

17A. Literally, "Ireland forever" : ERIN GO BRAGH. Bingo.

24A. Accident investigation site : CRASH SCENE. Chess.

37A. Gently towels off : PATS DRY. Darts.

51A. Eavesdrop : LISTEN IN ON. Tennis.

Boomer here.  It's true an ump may change an outcome of a game. But here in warm and windy Minnesota it's time for me to park the GLOWIN' Balls in the garage and get the clubs out to the great outdoors.  I just finished a successful spring league with most games over 200, and now I'll FLOG the links with most scores over 100.  If the averages ever meet it will be time to quit both games I fear.

Across:

1. Hubby's "better half" : THE MRS I think you need to be William Frawley's age to use this term.

7. Metaphorical china shop culprit : BULL - Yeah, I've heard of the china shop but I use this half a word to define lies.

11. Rest area? : SPA

14. Bring to light : REVEAL

15. "That makes sense" : I SEE

16. __ paper : WAX - NEWS and TERM were too many letters

19. Swelling reducer : ICE - covers all of our 10,000 lakes every winter

20. Pie __ mode : A LA

21. Figured out : GOT - there seems to be an abundance of three letter words in this puz.

22. Ward off : REPEL - Cutter's works good on mosquitoes

28. Vacuums, say : CLEANS

30. Meteorological light shows : AURORAS - They come along once in a while.  I always seem to miss the display.

33. Ill-mannered : CRASS - Crass, Cross - Same ol'

34. You might get a bad one in the rough : LIE - see my FLOG comment above.

35. Cosmetic surg. option : LIPO This is half a word.

36. Leia's love : HAN - Was "Star Wars" an AURORA ??

41. Safari beast : GNU - You need a GUN to kill a GNU

42. Equal : EVEN - Pass line bet at the craps table

44. Protective housing : POD- Moving companies will drop them in your driveway.  You load, they haul.

45. Survey choice : OTHER - I hate surveys. They should pay for your time.

47. Need for a return, usually : RECEIPT

49. Crazy Horse, for one : LAKOTA - Well known Native American organization in Chamberlain, SD.

53. Speed skater Ohno : APOLO - Surprise! I remember his performance in the Olympics.  Always thought there were two "L"s in his name.  Often wonder if competitors jived him with his surname.

55. Put a stop to : END

56. Sound from a toy : YAP - I have no yapping toys.  Maybe from a Toy Poodle ?

59. Possesses : HAS

65. Imitate : APE

66. Commentary piece : OP-ED -short for opinion/editorial.  We have way too many in this country.

67. Eight-time Best Actor Oscar nominee who never won : O'TOOLE - Probably most famous as Lawrence of Arabia.

68. Unfavorable : BAD

69. Sundae crunch providers : NUTS - I am STUNNED by this clue.

70. Squeezed (in) : WEDGED - Or one of those goofy FLOG shots - Jordan Spieth made from the bunker in the playoff.

Down: 

1. Uno e due : TRE - I don't comment on foreign words.

2. Wife of Zeus : HERA - Would this not be Zeus' better half?

3. "See no __ ... " : EVIL - You may see it LIVE and in person.

4. Endangers : MENACES - Mr. Wilson's bane

5. Word after dust or do : RAG- Clean oil from your bowling ball.
  

6. "America Runs on Dunkin'," e.g. : SLOGAN

7. Beginning : BIRTH 

8. "Born in the __" : USA - Last Sunday in the Travelers FLOG tournament, the crowd was yelling "BOO S A" for PGA player Weekley.

9. Stocking stuffer? : LEG - SANTA had too many letters

10. MacNeil's longtime co-host : LEHRER (Jim). Robert MacNeil.

11. Unlock a cellphone screen, perhaps : SWIPE RIGHT - Since my cell is an old style flip phone, I have no idea what this means.

12. Show anxiety, in a way : PACE - In Massachusetts, you must pick up the PACE if you are running around the CAPE.

13. Skater's maneuver : AXEL - This is a goofy skating leap named after a Norwegian named Axel. Someday I may have a 7-10 split named after me?

18. Head honcho : BOSS

23. Carbon compound : ENOL - Would this be the LONE element in Carbon?

25. Sign of a sore throat : RASP - Your FLOG opponent may lose his voice after your string of PARS.

26. Expressed : SAID

27. Stage coach? : CUER - If the CUER is sick, you may need a doctor to CURE him before the
show.

28. Hunger for : CRAVE

29. Sign of an impending merger? : LANE CLOSED - We have a lot of this going on here in Minneapolis.  I am sure other cities as well.  Our four seasons are Fall, Winter, Spring and under construction.

31. Sleep problem from the Greek for "absence of breathing" : APNEA

32. Like lemons, e.g. : SOUR

33. Chaz Bono's mom : CHER - Sonny's better half in the sixties.

34. "Dropped" '60s drug : LSD - Speaking of the sixties "LBJ took the IRT through the USA, and
what did he see?  The youth of America on LSD"

38. Date with the doc : APPT

39. Roomy bag : TOTE

40. Musician Ono : YOKO - John Lennon's better half, of course

43. Diamond of song : NEIL - One of my favorites was "Song, Sung, Blue". Johnny Cash sung "I walk the LINE".

46. Broadway performer's recognition : TONY NOD

48. Equiangular geometric figure : ISOGON - This looks like a Made up word or acronym.

49. "The Mod Squad" member : LINC

50. "You said it!" : AND HOW - And how are you doing on this puzzle ?

52. Food and shelter, for two : NEEDS

53. Pequod captain : AHAB-or the ARAB, the sheik of the burning sand!

54. Rollin' stone, in a Motown classic : PAPA

57. Enthralled : AGOG

58. Brazilian soccer hero : PELE - One of the original soccer player millionaire icons.  I am sure he could PEEL hundreds from his bankroll.

61. "The Simpsons" storekeeper : APU

62. Fulfilled, as a deadline : MET - Also the Big Apple Citi field player.

63. Wolfed down : ATE - Ate lunch and then relaxed with TEA.

64. Embarrassed : RED - Cincinnati Great American Ballpark player.

Boomer