Wednesday, November 30, 2016, Gail Grabowski and Bruce Venzke

TITLE: AT THE TURN - Holes 1 - 9 are said to be the "front nine" in golf. Being at the turn means you've finished the front nine and are heading for the "BACK NINE", holes 10 - 18 and that is where Gail and Bruce are taking us today

Gail and Bruce have given us this theme by not only hiding the word NINE but spelling it backwards in three long fills as you can see in the grid below. 

Here is their reveal: 

59. Take on holes 10 through 18 ... and a hint to a letter sequence hidden in 17-, 27- and 45-Across : PLAY THE BACK NINE

There is a golf apparel business shop with that name in its logo.

The actual theme fills with the ENIN motif are:

17. Stock in company producing solar panels, e.g. : GREEN INVESTMENT - Perhaps one day we can invest in a Solar-Powered charging station for electric cars like this one at the University of Iowa. It will charge 40 cars/day for a 30 mile run.

27. Exonerated by the evidence : PROVEN INNOCENT - He was "found not guilty" not "PROVEN INNOCENT"

45. Standing hospitable offer : OPEN INVITATION - Our lovely, though too infrequent, blogger Chef Wendy has this house on Kauai. She has told me that Joann and I have an OPEN INVITATION to visit her and use the bedroom on the right side of this picture.

Resident golf hacker Husker Gary here, ready to holler FORE and hit the cwd links with Bruce and Gail:


Across

1. Rough guess : STAB 

5. Company that developed the first aluminum teakettle : ALCOA

10. Pre-coll. catchall : ELHI - Not a favorite word with this veteran educator, but waddaya gonna do?

14. Words of lament : AH ME

15. Inventive types? : LIARS 

16. Wild way to run : RIOT

20. California rolls and such : SUSHI - "SPICY TUNA ROLLS" was in Mark Diehl's Saturday puzzle

21. Bud holder? : KEG

22. Touch-and-go : RISKY - Two girls trying to emulate Tom Cruises's entrance in RISKY Business.

23. Swell treatment : ICE - Tin, would you at least put ICE on a bad ankle?

25. Cato, for one : ROMAN

33. Single : LONE 

34. Suggested actions : DO'S - A DO and a DON'T for Uggs

35. Wish for : DESIRE

37. In-flight fig. : ALT - Altitude

38. Jack's value, sometimes : TEN - Pair it with and ace and you're good to go!

39. Spearheaded : LED

40. Fixture that may have claw feet : TUB

41. Closed in on : NEARED

43. Fish that can swim backwards : EEL

44. A.L. West pro, informally : STRO - Some people like to call the Huskers the Skers. I'm about as big of a fan of that as I am of ELHI.

48. Five-time Olympic swimming gold medalist Ledecky : KATIE

49. Church-owned Dallas sch. : SMU

50. Moth-__ : EATEN


53. "Inside Politics" airer : CNN - Their final pre-election poll was as errant as most others

55. Initial stage : ONSET - It's hard to believe that just a year ago near the formal ONSET of this past election we were really interested in the Iowa Caucuses.

62. Vacation spot : ISLE

63. Nemesis : ENEMY

64. Canal past Rochester : ERIE

65. Far from friendly : COLD - Maybe most faculties aren't as COLD to sub teachers as they are indifferent

66. Parceled (out) : METED

67. Frees (of) : RIDS


Down

1. Loses firmness : SAGS

2. No __ traffic : THRU - This sign might work as well

3. Former Iowa Straw Poll city : AMES

4. Dwelling fit for a queen : BEEHIVE - She's right there...

5. Boxer Laila : ALI

6. Website offering : LINK

7. Stalactite sites : CAVERNS

8. Home of college football's Ducks : OREGON

9. Mule's father : ASS

10. White-coated weasels : ERMINES

11. Golf ball positions : LIES - First rule in golf - "Play it where it LIES"

12. Sound of frustration, often : HONK

13. __-bitty : ITTY

18. Good-natured : NICE

19. Copied, in a way : TRACED - I hated it when I TRACED in books like this

24. Called the whole thing off : ENDED IT

26. Early assembly-line autos : MODEL T'S - You could have one any color you wanted EXCEPT black for the earliest ones. Years later, Ford figured out that using only black paint was cheaper and speeded up the process.

27. Arrange : PLAN

28. Logger's contest : ROLEO

29. Ready to draw, as beer : ON TAP

30. Physics particle : ION - Has an excess or deficiency of electrons

31. Capone cohort : NITTI

32. Cape Cod community : TRURO

36. Black, in verse : EBON

38. Studio renter : TENANT

39. Sweet-smelling garland : LEI

42. Typed in again : REKEYED - My specialty (curse)

43. 50-50 wager : EVEN BET - I know the Sunday LA Cwd is carried in fewer newspapers and so this is a repost of an image from my comment on Gail's solo Sunday puzzle. Two punters died this summer in a car crash, one from Nebraska and one from Michigan State. The Big Ten minted this coin to be used in the 50-50 coin toss before each game.

44. Knockout : STUNNER

46. __ Creed : NICENE

47. Wild way to run : AMOK

50. Large-scale : EPIC

51. "One more thing ... " : ALSO - One of his catchphrases

52. Towering : TALL

54. Put a handle on : NAME

56. Apple Watch assistant : SIRI

57. Oklahoma city : ENID

58. Driving needs? : TEES - Apropos for a golf-themed puzzle day

60. Clothes line : HEM - HEM lines and the stock market

61. Dancer Charisse : CYD

Well after finishing the BACK NINE, I think I'll head for the clubhouse and let you TEE off with your comments!

Wednesday, November 16th, 2016 Bruce Haight

Theme: Naming Names. Five names-as-nouns entries identified by similarities in the cluing.

17A. Nerd's moniker : POINDEXTER. From "Felix the Cat", and later a character in "The Revenge of the Nerds".

25A. Detective's moniker : SHERLOCK.

"A man should keep his little brain attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library where he can get it if he wants."

The Five Orange Pips

39A. Traitor's moniker : JUDAS. Thirty pieces of silver was his price, according to some.

47A. Genius' moniker : EINSTEIN. 

"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits".

60A. Old-timer's moniker : METHUSELAH. Also a wine bottle containing 8 standard bottles, or six liters. The bottle on the floor, second from the right, is one.

Greetings! No, you haven't blinked and missed Wednesday, Jazzbumpa and I traded blogging days this week so you'll see him tomorrow. This puzzle certainly felt like a Thursday though - it took me quite some time to get going, not helped by being unfamiliar with POINDEXTER and unable to get off the WEED WACKER idea. Nice theme, some solid longer non-theme entries too, especially TATTLETALES and ARMED ESCORT in the downs.

Let's see what else we've got:

Across:

1. New England NFLers : PATS. The Patriots. And the only franchise not geographically aligned to a city or a state, but a region.

5. Workforce : STAFF

10. __ salad : TACO

14. Cornell who founded Cornell : EZRA. Who are Better than Ezra? These guys.

15. Actress Tierney : MAURA. Thank you, crosses.

16. Passionate god : AMOR. This one threw me for a loop, being neither Eros nor Cupid.

19. Unexciting : TAME

20. Actress Gabor : EVA. Along with sisters Magda and Zsa Zsa.

21. Blends : OLIOS

22. Destination for the last flight? : ATTIC. Enjoyed unraveling this one. Clever clue.

23. In the cellar : LAST. Bottom of a league table. From the attic to the cellar in one fell clue.

27. Speak to : ADDRESS

30. Michelle who was the youngest female to play in a PGA Tour event : WIE. She was the youngest person at 10 years old to play in the US Amateur, and she never wanted to stop testing herself against better and better competition. She won the US Women's Open in 2014, having graduated from Stanford while still finding time to play professional golf. Quite a role model.

31. Bubbles up : FOAMS

32. Didn't like leaving : HATED TO GO

38. Ending for marion : -ETTE

40. Gung-ho : AVID

41. Lawn-trimming tool : WEED EATER. The inventor's grandson, Mark Ballas, is a professional ballroom dancer on "Dancing with the Stars".

43. Anti-inflammatory brand : ALEVE

44. Sixth sense, initially : E.S.P.

45. Coming to a point : TAPERED

52. Bonny one : LASS

53. Captain Kirk's "final frontier" : SPACE

54. Young zebras : FOALS

56. "Gross!" : EWW

59. __ avail: fruitless :  TO NO

62. Skunk cabbage feature : ODOR. Even the latin name sounds unpleasant: Symplocarpus foetidus.

63. More flimsy, as an excuse : LAMER

64. Ballet move : PLIÉ.

65. Attention getter : PSST! Checho with 55D

66. Krispy __ : KREME

67. Man, but not woman : ISLE. Lies between England and Ireland in the Irish Sea. Nigel Mansell, who won both the Formula 1 world motor racing championship and the Indy Car World Series, was a volunteer policeman on the island while he was still a racing driver and reportedly enjoyed writing speeding tickets with the comment "Who do you think you are, Me?".

Down:

1. First name in skunks : PEPE

2. Sea of __: Black Sea arm : AZOV. Tried ARAL first which slowed me down.

3. Court calendar entry : TRIAL DATE

4. __ Diego : SAN

5. Silvery food fish : SMELTS. I thought "smelt" was the plural but Webster's has both.

6. Airport waiter : TAXI

7. Dealership lot array : AUTOS

8. At risk of being slapped : FRESH

9. A long way : FAR

10. Rats : TATTLETALES

11. Former New York senator Al D'__ : AMATO

12. Word with book or opera : COMIC

13. "Clean Made Easy" vacuum brand : ORECK

18. Pill amounts : DOSES

22. Like Death Valley : ARID

24. Bodyguard, typically : ARMED ESCORT. I had a bodyguard once on a business trip to Mexico City back in the '90s when kidnapping was becoming a serious problem. The guy was armed to the teeth.

26. Lambs' moms : EWES

27. Not many : A FEW

28. Indulge, with "on" : DOTE

29. Sealed tight : SHUT

33. Summer cooler : ADE

34. Bakery offering : TART

35. Presents too aggressively : OVERSELLS

36. Cave in : GIVE

37. Pigged out (on), briefly : O.D.'ED. I'm not a big fan of this word, I don't even know how to punctuate it.

39. Taunting remark : JAPE. Leaning moment. I know jape as a prank, I didn't know it as a taunt.

42. Italian noble family : ESTE. Thank you, crosses. Not familiar with this family, although they date back to 996 so they've been around for long enough.

43. Take __: decline to participate : A PASS

46. Enticement : ALLURE

47. Prevent, in legalese : ESTOP. Yuk. Thumper and move on.

48. Apple players : IPODS

49. Compact 48-Down : NANOS. My first iPod was a Shuttle - even more compact, it didn't even have a display.

50. "My concern is ... " : I FEAR

51. "You've got the wrong person!" : NOT ME!

55. Attention getter : AHEM

57. Cry out loud : WAIL

58. "Look ma, no hands!" : WHEE. Followed by "Look ma, no teeth".

60. March on Washington monogram : M.L.K.

61. Prefix with gram : EPI-

"I don't believe in astrology. I'm a Sagittarius and we're very skeptical."—Arthur C. Clarke

I think that about does it for me today. See you back in my regular slot next week!

Steve 

Wednesday, November 9, 2016, C.C. Burnikel

Title: Kevin Garnett - Our lovely leader has chosen a fun initial gimmick with two word theme answers wherein the first word starts with a K and the second with a G. Her reveal shows this K_ G_ idea phonetically as CAGEY. C.C. said she was inspired this greatest Minnesota Timberwolf of all time whom she admired.

REVEAL:

38. Shrewd ... and a phonetic hint to this puzzle's four longest answers : CAGEY 

As you can see, her fun theme answers that are placed symmetrically - Two 10'S Across touching the left and right borders and Two Down 9's touching the top and bottom borders! Great!

16. Shade lighter than jade : KELLY GREEN - One of the team colors of the aforementioned KG

59. London co-creator of the International Plant Names Index : KEW GARDENS - Captain Bligh was gathering bread fruit in Tahiti for KEW GARDENS when the men on the HMS Bounty took issue with his command

10. Super-strong adhesive brand : KRAZY GLUE - Ah yes, I remember their ads

33. Extreme care : KID GLOVES - People always think debate moderators treat their candidate's opponent with KID GLOVES

Well let's KEEP GOING and see what other gifts C.C. has for us today.

Across

1. Welcomed at the door : SAW IN

6. "Shame on you!" : TSK

9. German trick-taking card game : SKAT - Have never played a hand

13. St. Teresa's town : AVILA - One of many Carmelite 39. Creatures of habit? : NUNS - in 16th century Spain

14. Use as a source : CITE

15. Egg on : URGE 18. Reckless act instigator : DARE - These two words can cause some very stupid behavior

19. Witty Bombeck : ERMA

20. Euros replaced them : LIRE

21. Buffoons : BOZOS

22. Target Field, e.g. : STADIUM - An easy drive from C.C.'s home

24. Nowhere near cool : DORKY

26. N.L. mascot whose head is a large baseball : MR. MET

28. Cracks up : LAUGHS

31. Finnish telecommunications company : NOKIA

34. Lindsay of "Freaky Friday" (2003) : LOHAN - A Disney star who, uh, "went south"

36. Bud's partner : LOU - Bud asked, "Who's on first?" LOU replied, "Yes!"

37. Exclude from the list : OMIT

40. Like Mars, visually : RED

41. Storybook elephant : BABAR - Did anyone else think of Red Barber with these two clues?

42. Sneaks a look : PEEKS

43. Points of view : ANGLES

45. Sleeping giant : SERTA - Love this clue

47. Actors memorize them : LINES - He's in a world of hurt!

49. Riddle-ending question : WHAT AM I - Stunning playground retort!

53. Chew out : SCOLD

55. "Now it makes sense" : I SEE

57. One-named supermodel : IMAN - Lovely, Somali-born woman who is now 61

58. __ Scotia : NOVA - New Scotland in Latin

61. Meryl's "It's Complicated" co-star : ALEC - Rotten Tomatoes gave it a "meh" 54%

62. Chevy subcompact : AVEO

63. Pasta tubes : PENNE

64. Skip a turn : PASS

65. Headed up : LED

66. Infuriated with : MAD AT


Down

1. Sushi bar brews : SAKES

2. Prevent : AVERT

3. Bedrock wife : WILMA

4. Words starting a confession : I'LL ADMIT - Johnny Cash sang, "I'LL ADMIT that I'm a fool for you"

5. Lawmaker's rejection : NAY - That's how they do it

6. 22-Across level : TIER

7. Energetic mount : STEED - Dudley's "trusty STEED" was named, uh, Horse

8. He's a doll : KEN - Barbie's main squeeze

9. Numbers game : SUDOKU

11. Soil-related prefix : AGRO - BOZOS took AGRI off my grid

12. Pro shop bagful : TEES

14. Forensics facility : CRIME LAB

17. Feeling blue : GLUM - Al Capp's poster child for this emotion - Joe Bltsplk 

21. Cereal component : BRAN

23. Nest egg letters : IRA

25. Big name in facial scrubs : OLAY

27. Forum robes : TOGAS

29. Traffic alert : HONK

30. Puzzle (out) : SUSS - A frequent strategy employed many of us solvers here 

31. Screenwriter Ephron : NORA

32. It may be a bad sign : OMEN

35. "Fasten your seatbelts" : HERE WE GO

38. Violin protector : CASE

39. "Swell suggestion!" : NEAT IDEA

41. Calisthenics movement : BEND - How many reps would you go for?

42. After-school org. : PTA

44. Shrubs with lavender blooms : LILACS

46. Perlman of "Cheers" : RHEA - Ree' uh not Ray or Ray uh

48. Colander cousin : SIEVE

50. Change, as a motion : AMEND

51. Old Testament food : MANNA

52. Illustrator's close-up : INSET

53. Easy-peasy task : SNAP - A sentiment expressed by a Shakespearean actor and director who also played Isaac the Bartender on Love Boat

54. Picnic soft drink : COLA

56. Neighbor of Nor. : SWED

59. __ Kan pet foods : KAL

60. Tach reading : RPM

Now it's your time for our CAGEY bloggers to give us their pertinent and impertinent remarks!

Wednesday, November 2, 2016 Craig Stowe

Theme - Do You See What I See? Or My EYES Are Crossed [Up.] or  I-Yigh-Yie.  An anagramish theme in which the letters of the word EYES are scrambled and tucked into theme answer phrases of 2 or 3 words, in each case spanning two of those words.  If you're lucky, you got these letters circled for easy identification.

17. "Gotta go!" : SEE YA LATER.   Adios, amigos -- except I can't leave now, I'm just getting started.

24. Peter Parker's alarm system : SPIDEY SENSE.  To be a bit pedantic, Peter Parker's SPIDER SENSE is a kind of ESP that causes a tingling at the base of his scull, thus alerting him to danger. SPIDEY SENSE is a slangey generalized derivative phrase applied to anyone's [possibly uncanny] ability to suss out danger.

50. Henry VIII's third wife : JANE SEYMOUR.  JANE [1508-1537] was Queen of England for a little more than a year, following the unfortunate Anne Boleyn.  Sadly, Jane died of postnatal complications a few days after the birth of her son, who eventually went on to become King Edward VI.  Queen Jane is not to be confused with Joyce Penelope Wilhelmina Frankenberg [b. 15 February 1951] from Hayes, Middlesex, England, the daughter of Mieke (van Tricht), a nurse, and John Benjamin Frankenberg, an obstetrician.

Medicine Woman

58. Sign of deceit, and a hint to this puzzle's circled letters : SHIFTY EYES.  Supposedly, a liar cannot look you straight in the EYES.  In reality, this only apples to rank amateurs.  The good ones can pull it off, no prob - without batting an EYE, so to speak.  Here, SHIFTY gives us a clue that the letters of the word EYES have been tampered with.

Hi gang.  JazzBumpa here, complete with bifocals.  Let's give this puzzle the EYE and see what we can discover.

Across

1. Less-played song, usually : B-SIDE.   Takes me back to my yute, when 45 RPM records typically contained a hit song on the A-SIDE and some other less commercially successful song on the B-SIDE.

6. Big name in big projections : I-MAX.   Big screen theater.

10. Skips, as TiVoed ads : ZAPS.  I guess you can ZAP something to make it disappear.

14. Like Andean pyramids : INCAN.  Of or pertaining to the INCA people.

15. Bumpkin : RUBE.  Simple farmers, people of the land, the common clay of the new west  .  .  .

16. Touched down : ALIT.  Landed, as a bird, plane, or lunar module.

19. Without serious thought : IDLY.  As in chattered IDLY.

20. Cuts down : HEWS.  HEW is one of those odd English language verbs that means two wildly different things.  Here, it means to chop or cut with an AXE or other tool.  The other meaning is to adhere to some idea or set of principles.

21. Single : ONE.  As a dollar bill.

22. Garson of Hollywood : GREER.  Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson [1904-1996] was a very popular movie star with MGM in the 1940's.

Real Redhead

23. "Do it, __ will!" : OR I.  Is this an offer or a threat?

27. Bed blossoms : PANSIES.  Flowers.

29. Hyundai rival : KIA.  Korean cars

30. Vineyard cask : TUN.   A large cask holding 252 gallons.

31. Stainless __ : STEEL.   An alloy containing chromium that is highly resistant to rusting.

32. Agent : REPresentative.

33. "Looney Tunes" stinker, familiarly : PEPE. Le Pew, a skunk.

Provide your own caption

34. Kaiser roll topping : POPPY SEED. A pinwheel shaped soft bread roll with a crisp crust, topped with seeds that actually do come from the opium poppy.

38. Hide from a hunter? : PELT.   Cute misdirection, hide and PELT both referring to the skin removed from the hunted animal.  Cf. 53 A.

41. "Yet cease your __, you angry stars of heaven!": "Pericles" : IRE.  From scene I of Shakeseare's play.  IRE, of course, meaning anger.

42. E-cigarette output : VAPOR.

46. Firefighter's tool : AXE.  For HEWING.

47. Lanai music maker : UKE.  Not exclusively for Hawaiian songs - but there are strings attached.

48. Has a conniption : GOES APE.  A way of manifesting IRE.

53. "Noah kept bees in the ark hive," e.g. : PUN.  Word play based on similar sounds and [often awkwardly imposed] double meanings.

54. __ acid : AMINO.  The building block of life.  This organic compound has both carboxylic acid and amine functionality.  These two reactive groups can react with each other, and thus form long complicated molecular chains.  The rest is history.  Or maybe chemistry.  Or biology.  It all gets a little muddy.

55. Capp and Capone : ALS.  Two guys names AL.  One was a rum-running crime boss and the other gave us Li'l Abner.

56. Poet Whitman : WALT.  An American poet [1819 - 1892.]  His collection, Leaves of Grass, was considered to be pornographic at the time.

57. Manner : MIEN.  From the same root as "demeanor."  A way of presenting one's self.  This word was popular ca. 1800, and has been in decline since, especially after 1900.

61. Years, to Livy : ANNI.  Latin and plural.

62. Navigation hazard : HAZE.  It impairs vision, shifts the EYES, and comes in many colors.



63. __-garde : AVANT.  From Olde French into late Middle English - meaning the most forward part of an advancing military force.  Now, by extension, anything at the cutting edge of technology or culture.

64. Establishes : SETS.

65. Fancy jug : EWER.

66. Nutty green sauce : PESTO.  Olive oil based sauce containing pine nuts, basil and garlic, typically served over pasta.

Down

1. Vatican personnel : BISHOPS.  Also chess men.

2. Show disdain for : SNEER AT.   With a contemptuous or condescending facial expression.

3. Dessert drink made from frozen grapes : ICE WINE.   The grapes are frozen on the vine, concentrating the sugars and other solids, yielding a smaller amount of concentrated very sweet wine.

4. Weekly septet : DAYS.  Check your calendar.

5. Disney doe : ENA.   Bambi's aunt appears alliteratively.

6. Modern Persians : IRANIS.  Ancient Persia ---> modern Iran.

7. Subdued : MUTED.  Even on the trombone.



8. Civil War nickname : ABE.   President Lincoln

9. Boomer's kid : X-ER.  Those in generation X.   The baby boomers are the demographic cohort born from ca. 1946 to 1964, in the aftermath of WW II.  Generation X has historically been a disparaging term used to describe alienated youth.   It was only after 1991, when Canadian writer Douglas Coupland came out with his novel Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, that it was applied to the previously unnamed cohort that followed the boomers.  There are cultural implications to identifying with a particular cohort, and Gen X-ERs, not specifically limited to the after 1964 crowd, could have been born as early as 1956, and up until some vague date in the neighborhood of 1980.

10. '70s-'90s African state : ZAIRE.  Now the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

11. Pasta preference : AL DENTE.  Cooked until still firm, and not mushy.

12. Forms a big stack : PILES UP.  I'm thinking of all the leaves yet to land in my yard.

13. Compound in many disposable coffee cups : STYRENE.   Vinylbenzene, a genuinely nasty chemical that also is found in other commercially important plastics.

18. Easy pace : LOPE.

22. Govt. property overseer : GSA.   The General Services Administration is an independent government agency that helps manage and support other government agencies.

24. Corn Belt sight : SILO.  Commonly a cylindrical tower used for storing grain.

25. Barely makes, with "out" : EKES.   Commonly EKES its way into a crossword.

26. "Geez!" : YIPE.   I prefer YIKES!

28. When the NFL's regular season begins : SEPTember brings us football at all levels.

32. Canadian whisky : RYE.  Is all Canadian whiskey RYE? I know not all RYE is Canadian.

33. BlackBerries, e.g. : PDAS.  Personal Data Assistants.

35. Seattle's __ Place Market : PIKE.   One of the oldest continuously operating farmers' markets in the U.S.

36. Antelopes, to lions : PREY.  A step lower on the food chain.

37. At any point : EVER.

38. Sleepover need : PAJAMAS.

Sleepwear for the whole family

39. Check out : EXAMINE.  Take a gander at those jammies!

40. Lax : LENIENT.  Not strict.

43. Tropical fruits : PAPAYAS. The fruit of a tree native to Central America that has been locally cultivated for many centuries.

44. Rich : OPULENT.  Displaying conspicuous or ostentatious wealth.

45. Charges for use of, as an apartment : RENTS TO.

47. GI hangout : USO.  The United Services Organization, Inc. is a non-profit organization that provides programs, services and live entertainment to U.S. military personnel and their families.

48. Club owner? : GOLFER

49. Toss from office : OUST

51. County seat of County Clare : ENNIS

52. Thanksgiving decoration : MAIZE

56. "__ Only Just Begun": Carpenters hit : WE'VE

58. Ship, to its crew : SHE

59. "Hee __" : HAW

60. Go on and on : YAP

That wraps it up for today.  Hope your vision didn't get blurred or HAZY.  And that's the truth!

Cool regards!
JzB

Wednesday, Oct 26, 2016 Patti Varol

Theme: Mere Pittance - Each theme entry is a slang for "paltry sum".

18A. Peanuts : CHICKEN FEED

38A. Peanuts : SMALL POTATOES. Remember the black squares on both sides of this entry are not cheaters. The tricky 13 demands the black squares.

58A. Peanuts : CHUMP CHANGE

C.C. here, swapping blogging slot with Husker Gary, who wrote last Sunday's post.

At first, I thought this might be a Definition type, which often runs on Thursday or Friday. But no SCHULZ'S STRIP or BALLPARK SNACK or other made-up phrases. Patti has a tight set of all  solid in- the-language phrases.

Across:    

1. Wander (about) : GAD

4. Fragrant bloom : LILAC. The scent is a bit overwhelming for me.

9. Utter disorder : CHAOS

14. Second person in Eden : EVE

15. Kitchen sponge brand : O-CEL-O.  Love 3M. They sponsor the annual Champions Tour here in our area.

16. Full of moxie : NERVY

17. Like many a gray day : WET

 

20. Sales meeting aid : GRAPH. Not CHART.

22. Feel crummy : AIL. Was on antibiotics for 2 weeks. Man, I felt so crummy. The periodontist is going to take off the stitches this morning. Yay!

23. Coal __ : TAR

24. Most populous continent : ASIA

25. Date night destination : CINEMA

28. One of a gallon's 16 : CUP

30. Like a successful business, presumably : WELL-RUN. Like 3M.

32. Stand against : OPPOSE

34. Northern California city : EUREKA

37. Birch family tree : ALDER

41. Hardly fresh : STALE. Hope you have Aldi in your neighborhood. This week's boxed Medjool dates are incredibly fresh.

42. Bit of photography equipment : TRIPOD

43. Southern California team : LAKERS. Not ANGELS or PADRES. Lakes are originally from Minnesota, "Land of 10,000 Lakes".

45. Inside information : LOWDOWN

49. Copper source : ORE

50. Hits the road : SPLITS

53. Albany-to-Buffalo canal : ERIE

54. Former Air France jet : SST

56. Geologist's division : EON. Not ERA.

57. Tops by a slight margin : EDGES

 

62. Picnic invader : ANT

  

63. Ready to hit the hay : TIRED. Also 66. Used up : SPENT

  

64. Invalidate : ANNUL

 

65. Maiden name preceder : NEE

 

67. Pond critters : NEWTS. Not FROGS.

 

68. Mexican Mrs. : SRA

 

Down:

 

1. Gaudy trinket : GEWGAW. Not a word I use.

 

2. Opposed : AVERSE

3. Enlargement advantage : DETAIL

4. Scot's swimming spot : LOCH

 

5. German "I" : ICH

6. Welcoming wreath : LEI

7. Highway through the Yukon : ALCAN (Alaska-Canada)

8. Newswoman Roberts : COKIE. NPR.

9. "Erin Burnett OutFront" channel : CNN

10. Pick up with effort : HEFT

11. Geographically based trio : AREA CODE

12. Makes trite, in a way : OVERUSES

13. Hoff who wrote the "Henrietta" children's books : SYD

19. Red "Sesame Street" puppet : ELMO

21. Light beer? : PALE ALE. Color-wise.

25. Biceps exercise : CURL

26. Not at all handy : INEPT

27. "Trainwreck" director Judd : APATOW. He was on the Bill Cosby crusade from the very start.

29. Pay-__-view : PER

31. Kings, e.g. : RULERS

33. Lumbered : PLODDED

35. "MASH" setting: Abbr. : KOR (Korea). Land of Kimchi & Tteokbokk. The latter is a street food, as  ubiquitous as our WIENER (47. Ballpark snack)

36. Lopsided : ATILT

38. Sci-fi fleet vessel : STARSHIP

39. Leave no doubt : MAKE SURE

40. GI addresses : APOs

41. __-mo : SLO

44. What a freelancer may work on : SPEC

46. Hearts, but not minds : ORGANS

 

48. Lipton rival : NESTEA

51. Lindsay of "Mean Girls" : LOHAN. She was once so promising.

52. Foolish : INANE

55. Anti-counterfeiting agts. : T MEN

57. Slim swimmers : EELS

58. Euro divs. : CTs

59. West Coast hrs. : PDT

60. Houston-to-Dallas dir. : NNW

61. Belly : GUT

 
C.C.