Monday January 31, 2022 Will Tobias

Theme: GIS (70. USO show audience ... and a hint to the answers to starred clues)

20. *The Bible's golden calf, e.g.: GRAVEN IMAGE.

26. *Giving a higher mark than students deserve: GRADE INFLATION.

48. *It's not always the same as one's assigned sex at birth: GENDER IDENTITY.

56. *Intuition, often: GUT INSTINCT.

Boomer here.  

GI stands for Government Issue.  It's been a long time since I wore some of those clothes.  However I did finish with my Government Issue Radiation last Friday. I sure hope it will produce the desired result. 

Let's see? Coming to a TV set near you! Winter Olympics and a Super Bowl. Not even a COVID pandemic can cancel these money makers. 

 Across:

1. Relaxing retreat: SPA.  Never been to one.  I do have a recliner in the basement of our home.

4. Picket line crosser: SCAB.  Nasty slang.  Sometimes I get one underneath a Band-Aid.

8. Tied, as sneakers: LACED.  I remember Government Issued Combat boots.  Took about ten minutes to lace them up. 

13. Work like heck: TOIL. A la Elon Musk.

15. Arrived: CAME.  Got there.

16. Old piano key material: IVORY.  Soap that floats!

17. European car brand that sounds sort of like a Western greeting: AUDI.  Young Mr. Doody ?

18. Ordered like dictionary words: ALPHABETIC.  Long word for an Across answer.

22. Sound of fear: EEK.

23. Roadside haven: INN.

24. About 1/2000th of a euro, in 2002: LIRA.  I never really learned the value of the LIRA.

33. Slimy substance: GOO.

34. Dolphin family "killer": ORCA.

35. Inventor Otis: ELISHA.  Also the first name of Mr. Gray who invented the telephone within hours of Alexander Graham Cracker Bell.  Mr. Bell beat Mr. Gray to the patent office by a matter of minutes.  Mr. Bell suggested that his invention be answered "Ahoy".  Mr. Gray suggested "Good Morning Graybar!"

36. Roman moon goddess: LUNA.

38. Tease: KID.

40. Site of Napoleon's exile: ELBA.  Elba was indeed the site of Napoleon's exile.  But it also happens to be a small town in Minnesota.

41. Where Amin ruled: UGANDA.

44. Puffin relatives: AUKS.  You may call it an AUK if you like, but it looks like a penguin to me.

47. Geological time span: EON.  Half a billion years. The time it will take the Vikings to win a Super Bowl.

51. What a coach gives a base runner: SIGN.

52. Corn unit: EAR.  Well-known at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota.

53. Suffix with script: URE.

62. Cape Cod and Baja: PENINSULAS.  I usually think of Florida.

64. Former Neet rival: NAIR. Neet is now Veet. I just use a razor.

65. Two in a deck: DEUCE.  Actually there are four in every deck.

66. Evening, in ads: NITE.  NIGHT did not fit I guess.

67. Required bet: ANTE.  I think the ANTE actually precedes the betting.

68. Rubbed out, gang-style: OFFED.

69. NBA conference: EAST.

Down: 

1. Male deer: STAG.  They're the ones with the Antlers.

2. Serve the wine, say: POUR.  No thank you.  I never liked WINE.

3. Verdi classic: AIDA.

4. Medical diagnostic device: SCANNER.  Yup, I know what these are.  I have had MRIs, CT scans, and bone Scans. MRIs are the biggest hassles,  and I have another one coming up very soon.

5. Colombian metropolis: CALI.

6. Alarm clock toggle: AM PM.  I usually can figure it out by looking out the window.

7. On __ of: representing: BEHALF.

8. Loose, like a translation: LIBERAL.

9. D.C.'s Pennsylvania, e.g.: AVE.  1600 is the White House.

10. Pigeon shelter: COTE.

11. Shallowest Great Lake: ERIE.  Lake ERIE is the 4th largest Great Lake 

12. Flemish painter Sir Anthony van __: DYCK.

14. Wife of Augustus: LIVIA.

19. Light-footed: AGILE.  I used to be fairly AGILE.  But then I got old.

21. Prefix with scope: ENDO.

25. "It's __": "Nobody wins": A TIE.  It's what I wear to the Graybar banquets.

26. Charge triple, say: GOUGE.  Gasoline around here is a little over $3.00 per gallon.  Of course I remember the 60's when it was around .30 cents.

27. Journalist Farrow: RONAN. Mia's son.

28. "Disgusting!": ICK.  YUCK did not fit.

29. Water nymph: NAIAD.

30. Speck in the ocean: ISLET.  Sounds like Hawaii?

31. "That's exciting!": OH BOY.  Alan Sherman - "We'd like to know what you think"  OH BOY.  Thunderbirds and Cadillacs, OH BOY !! April 15 Income Tax  OH BOY.

32. Indian bread: NAAN.

33. Water cooler sound: GLUG.

37. "No ifs, __ or buts": ANDS.

39. Payable now: DUE.  Income Tax is coming soon.  They expect payments of taxes due before the refunds are coming out.

42. Condescended: DEIGNED.  "Deign to be great !!"

43. Jason's shipbuilder: ARGUS. "Jason and the Argonauts".

45. Israeli parliament: KNESSET.

46. RBI or ERA: STAT.  Wins, Losses, Strikeouts, Walks, Stolen Bases, Baseball has more stats than football games have commercials.

49. On key: IN TUNE.  "Tiptoe through the tulips"  Tiny Tim was not.

50. Russian supermodel Shayk: IRINA.

53. High hairstyle: UPDO.  I remember the old days when all hair fit under the football helmets.

54. Great Barrier __: REEF.

55. Plenty, phonetically: ENUF.  Okay, ENUF fake words.  It's only Monday.

57. Pelvic bones: ILIA.

58. D.C. baseball team: NATS.  Replaced the old Senators who became the Twins after moving.

59. Vietnam's Da __: NANG.  "DaNANG, Da NANG me"  (Robin Williams.)

60. Banking giant: CITI.  Never used this.  We have local credit unions that do the job.

61. Uno y dos: TRES.

63. Rapper __ Cube: ICE.  Or ICE T on Law and Order SVU.

Boomer

Notes from C.C.:

Happy birthday to Bill G! So happy to see you on the blog from time to time, Bill! We all care about you and miss your posts when you're away.

Here is a picture of Barbara, Bill and their three grandkids. This picture was taken long time ago when Bill still went out daily for his bike ride and coffee.

Friday, October 9, 2020, Will Tobias

 Title: Play ball!

I have had the pleasure of introducing the cruciverb world to so many first time publications. One day, I should count them. In any event, Will Tobias is the next in line. His puzzle is a repurposing of common phrases used during a baseball broadcast by cluing them with descriptive and amusing images. He even includes, what I see as an unnecessary reveal. As we are working our way slowly toward a World Series, the timing is good. As a Friday there is some challenge-   39. "Strega __": Tomie dePaola Caldecott winner whose title means "Grandma Witch": NONA and 58. Goiânia greeting: OLA come to mind. He also squeezes in some sparkle with HIGHBALL,  PONTIFFS, NOR'EASTER, and PIRATICAL (an odd but easily inferrable word. So it is time to begin.

20A. *Where to hang a lei on a rhino?: AROUND THE HORN (13). A double play initiated by the third baseman who throws to second who throws to first. 

32A. *Bits of dialogue censored on network television?: FOUL LINES (9). Pretty funny. The ball is in play between the white lines.

40A. *Dracula after a hearty meal?: FULL COUNT (9). We will not ask what Vlad has eaten, but this too is funny.

51A. *Crime of someone who wants folks to get lost?: STEALING SIGNS (13). This is not so funny as it is the basis of a major league scandal in major league baseball causing teams to forfeit World Series wins. 

The reveal: 59D. Org. in which you'd hear the answers to starred clues: MLB. Major League Baseball.

On to the rest...

Across:

1. Travel pillow spot: NAPE. Not as controversial as NABE.

5. "Nothing but net": SWISH. That special sound in basketball as the ball slides down without hitting the rim.

10. One often looking down: SNOB. One's nose often; counterintuitively it is said to have arisen from the custom of writing “s. nob.”, that is, 'sine nobilitate,' after the names of children of untitled parents in certain English schools. 

14. Handmade blade: SHIV. I know some fun shiv stories. 

15. George who co-wrote the graphic memoir "They Called Us Enemy": TAKEI.

16. Do the honors: POUR. A CSO to our resident Sommelier and our friend TIN.

17. Blaze: FIRE. Look, there is a blaze; meh.

18. Circular gasket: O-RING. Very important in the machinery of all kinds.

19. "__ boy!": ATTA. ATTA Girl.

23. Acquire: GET.

25. Whitney and Washington: Abbr.: MTS. In California- the highest peak in 48 contiguous states and in New Hampshire with the highest winds.

26. Counted (on): BANKED. On banking on entertaining you, but so far it is a struggle.

27. Unstable time: CRISIS. No politics.

29. Bygone Russian title: TSAR. Not bygone from the puzzle world. 

31. Lawful: LICIT. Hence, illicit.

37. And others, in Lat.: ET AL. Alia or Alii.

38. Group of experts: PANEL.

39. "Strega __": Tomie dePaola Caldecott winner whose title means "Grandma Witch": NONA. If you speak Italian it is a very literal answer. 

42. Doughnut-shaped: TORIC. We have had this shape many times.

43. Women's Basketball Hall of Famer Donovan: ANNE.
Anne Donovan.

44. Musical inability: TIN EAR. More Tin.

45. Dark igneous rock: BASALT. Basalt is a dark-colored, fine-grained, igneous rock composed mainly of plagioclase and pyroxene minerals.

49. Suffix with bass: OON. Suffix with Sw? Please.

50. High card: ACE.

55. "The Sopranos" actor Robert: ILER. AJ, has left the building. 

A.J. Soprano

56. "And that's __!": FINAL. No, not yet.

57. Elemental unit: ATOM. Ant?

60. Belafonte classic: DAYO. The Banana Boat Song is back.

61. Cereal tidbit: FLAKE. Corny answer.

62. Auction, say: SELL. Or try to...

63. "Birds of Prey" actor McGregor: EWAN. Harley Quinn...

64. Attack: SET AT.

65. Cairo native: ARAB. A descendant of Ismael.

Down:

1. Bad check letters: NSF. non-sufficient funds

2. Poke tuna: AHI. Aha! Are you okay with POKE?

3. Given to plundering: PIRATICAL. You missed TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY. ARRGH!

4. At any time: EVER. We get into the filling fill.

5. Dark drafts: STOUTS. Rex? 

6. Cautions: WARNS. 

7. "Joke, joke": I KID.

8. Email status: SENT.

9. Tall drink: HIGHBALL. Another baseball possibility but not included in the theme. This drink recipe is one that every aspiring bartender should know and it is, quite simply, whiskey and ginger ale. 

10. Pitcher Warren with the most lifetime wins for a southpaw:  SPAHN.

11. Far from acceptable: NOT OK.

12. Quite unusual: OUTRE.

13. __ awareness: BRAND.

21. Drop: OMIT.

22. Rank between marquess and viscount: EARL. Did you all watch the movie?

23. Staff symbol: G CLEF. The treble clef is also called the "G clef" because the symbol at the beginning of the staff (a stylized letter "G") encircles the second line of the staff, indicating that line to be G4 (or g above middle C).

24. Verdi baritone aria: ERITU. Just in time for some opera.

28. Window ledge: SILL. What you not know and do not care about the WINDOW SILL.

29. 1,000 kilograms: TONNE. A metric ton. 

30. Bird feeder cake: SUET. Hard to think of suet as "cake."

32. Woodland spirit: FAUN.

33. Privy to: IN ON.

34. Stahm that may affect Bahston: NOR'EASTER.

35. Early computer: ENIAC.

36. "__ bleu!": SACRE.

38. Popes: PONTIFFS.

41. Ring up: CALL.

42. Sound of a tiny bell: TING.

44. __ water: TOILET.

45. It may be a sleeper hit: B-SIDE.

46. Shingle words: AT-LAW.

47. "Toodles!": SEE YA.

48. Judge on a diamond: AARON. Yankee star who is being overshadowed by Luke Volt and Gianncarlo Stanton in the playoffs. NY is down 2-1 to Tampa Bay, but Tinbeni can't lose.

49. Japanese financial hub: OSAKA. Also the US Tennis Open women's champion this year. 

52. River delta where the Rosetta Stone was found: NILE. 

53. Winged pest: GNAT. We get more midges in Florida. 

54. Mission Control org.: NASA.

58. Goiânia greeting: Olá. Goiânia is a city in Western Brazil. When you see Olá rather than ¡Hola! it is a clue you are looking for a Portuguese place, not Spanish. 

I am under the weather, so I leave it you all to make our newest constructor Will T. (Will Shortz, nor Will Shakespeare) feel at how here at the corner and ready to come to visit and talk with us. Lemonade out.