Sunday March 2, 2014 Robin Stears

 Theme: "Dance Partners" - Both words in this theme entry can proceed "Dance".

 23A. Admirer banned for overzealousness? : FORBIDDEN FAN. Fan dance, yes! What is "Forbidden dance"?

  

41A. Where "Hissing 101" is offered? : SNAKE SCHOOL. Loved the clue. Snake dance. School dance.

44A. Contemporary poetry competition? : MODERN SLAM. Modern dance. Slam dance.

69A. Something the plumber's never seen before? : EXOTIC CLOG. Exotic dance. Clog dance.

73A. Hardly hipsters? : SQUARE FOLK. Square dance. Folk dance.

95A. San Diego mascot's topper? : CHICKEN HAT. Read here about the Chicken. Chicken dance. Hat dance.

100A. Follow the Scarlet Speedster? : SHADOW FLASH. Scarlet Speedster is the nickname of Flash. Shadow dance. Flashdance.

122A. Eating contest winner's paunch? : VICTORY BELLY. Victory dance. Belly dance.

Such an apt puzzle title. And so many dances! This puzzle should delight our Yellowrocks, who's the president of their square dance club.

Across:

     

1. Page 1 or 3, usually : RECTO. Right-hand page (Odd-numbered). Vs. Verso.

6. Perplex : BEMUSE

12. Digital readout abbr. : LCD

15. Workout target : FLAB

19. Hitching post? : ALTAR. Nailed it.

20. Cocky self-reference end : AREN'T I.  Oh, I'm so ...., aren't I?

21. Sushi tuna : AHI

22. Rolling rock : LAVA

25. It's read monthly : GAS METER. Not magazine!

27. Farmer: TILLER

28. Begets : SIRES

30. Comparatively poor : NEEDIER

31. Table d'hôte alternative : A LA CARTE. Still remember you first day in Paris? I went to a party in a Paris suburb and ended up missing the last Métro.

34. Coveted annual honor : OSCAR. Timely.

36. Tuscaloosa-to-Huntsville dir. : NNE

37. Stretch named for a leader, perhaps : ERA. Clinton era, e.g.

40. Not even part-time : IDLE. So, IDLE here is an adjective, right?

48. Curse : EVIL EYE

49. .jpg file contents : IMAGE. I'm saddened by the passing of PK, Dave. But you loved her and took great care of her.

Dave & PK

50. Scintilla : SHRED

52. Imitate a hot dog? : PANT. The HOT dog, not food.

56. Like the worst excuse : LAMEST

58. Beersheba locale : NEGEV. Not familiar with Beersheba. Wiki says:  it's the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev".

60. Dolphins' order : CETACEA. Whales belong to the same order. Learning moment to me. This word looks like some kind of disease.

63. Picked up a split, say : SPARED. Bowling.

65. Handel work : MESSIAH

68. Shop _ you drop : TIL

75. __ & Perrins: Worcestershire sauce : LEA. Never heard of it, but I'm so happy Robin finds a new clue for LEA.

76. Macho sort : REAL MAN. Don't be deceived by the Macho look.

78. Shoppe sign words : YE OLDE

79. Some printers : INKJETS

81. Flower children? : SEEDS. Sweet clue.

83. Long-faced : SULLEN

87. "Meh" : SO SO

88. Grateful, maybe? : ASHES. Oh, she means Grate-ful.

90. Marsupial sometimes called a bear : KOALA

91. Ancient fertility goddess : ASTARTE. The Phoenician goddess.

104. Wind in a pit : OBOE

105. Frat letter : RHO

106. Not 'neath : O'ER

107. Assist with : DO FOR

108. Victuals : ALIMENTS

112. Apportion : PRORATE

114. Hamlet and Ophelia, e.g. : ROLES. Not enough space for LOVERS.

116. Payday, for one : NUT BAR. Never had this.

120. Nostalgic, in a way : HOMESICK. This is horrifying. Those ethnic separatists are Muslims. China has 56 ethnic groups. Han is the largest. Over 91% of the Chinese are Han, including me.

125. __ uproar : IN AN

126. Kingston Trio hit for whose hero Boston's CharlieCard was named : MTA

127. Daughter of Zeus : ATHENA

128. __ Gay : ENOLA

129. Standard Oil brand : ESSO

130. "Errare humanum __": Seneca : EST. To err is human.

131. Looked impolitely : LEERED

132. One-named Swedish pop singer : ROBYN. First time encounter with this lady.

Down:

1. Finn's vessel : RAFT

2. Sci-fi people : ELOI

3. Shift neighbor : CTRL

4. Sitar accompaniment : TABLA

5. Bay window : ORIEL

6. Good, in some cases : BAD

7. Preposition with multiple homonyms : ERE. Air, Heir, Aer.

8. Criminal intent, in law : MENS REA

9. Not qualified : UNFIT

10. Rubbernecks : STARES

11. Article in Die Zeit : EINE. Die Zeit= The Time. German national weekly newspaper well-regarded for its journalistic quality, a la Wiki.

12. Jet __ : LAG

13. Pulpit locale : CHANCEL. I'm surprised I know this word.

14. Part of CDC : DISEASE

15. Skedaddled : FLED

16. Bodega patron : LATINO

17. Skin care brand : AVEENO. I like their tinted moistuizer.

18. Rodeo prop : BARREL

24. Pull the plug on : DRAIN. Literally.

26. "Heavens to Betsy!" : MERCY

29. Dry Italian wine : SOAVE

32. They're burned on purpose : CDs

33. Pledge of Allegiance ender : ALL

35. Road mark cause, maybe : SKID

37. Disney's "__ and the Detectives" : EMIL. No idea.

38. Italia's capital : ROMA

39. Biblical Rodin work : ADAM

42. Pre-performance feeling : NERVES

43. Air filter acronym : HEPA. I have to Google: High-Efficiency Particulate Absorption.

45. Cast out : EGEST

46. Inhale and exhale : RESPIRE

47. Flavor enhancer : MSG. Have you tried Chinese dumplings, D-Otto? Trader Joe's has a veggie version that I really like.

51. Sewer line? : HEM.  Nice clue.

53. X-__: tool brand : ACTO

54. Playwright Simon : NEIL

55. "Confess!" : TALK

57. Musical "don't play" : TACET

58. Snidely Whiplash fearer : NELL. Drew a blank.

59. Ancient Dead Sea land : EDOM

60. "See ya!" : CIAO. I seldom use this word in daily conversion,  too similar to Chinese F word.

61. British noblemen : EARLS

62. Wayne nickname : THE DUKE. The only Republican Orson Welles really admired.

64. Some TVs : RCAs

66. Carpet meas. : SQ YD. Square Yard.

67. Petitions : SUES

69. The Whiffenpoofs of a cappella fame : ELIs

70. Alien: Pref. : XENO. As in Xenophobia.

71. Cork sources : OAKS

72. Deep cuts : GASHES

74. Record holder? : FELON. Another nice clue.

77. Bridal bio word : NEE

80. Steinbeck hero Tom : JOAD

82. Key that cancels : ESC

84. Comic actor Bert : LAHR

85. David and Goliath's battlefield : ELAH. The Valley of Elah.

86. Defense gp. : NATO

88. Janis' comics mate : ARLO

89. First Super Bowl MVP : STARR (Bart)

92. What jerks serve : SODAS

93. Betray : TWO-TIME. Chilling when you discover your husband has another email account.

94. Touches : AFFECTS

96. Block and tackle, e.g. : HOISTER. Had to consult Argyle. He said "Block and tackle is used to hoist things up".

97. Creator of Watson : IBM. Hi there Chicago!

98. Cedar Rapids college : COE. I learned from doing Xwords.

99. G on a sax? : KENNY. Kenny G.

100. Oscar role for Meryl : SOPHIE. Sophie's Choice.

101. Long-legged waders : HERONS

102. Kitchen emanations : AROMAS

103. Ice cream-making supply : HALITE. New trivia to me.

109. Café con __ : LECHE

110. Rutabaga or yam : TUBER. One of our readers told me that real African yams are white-fleshed. So all these years I've been just eating sweet potatoes, even if they're marked "Yams" in our grocery store.

111. Gregg user : STENO

113. Gambling town on I-80 : RENO

115. Like an oeil-de-boeuf window : OVAL. French for  "bull's eye". Another learning moment to me.

117. Shapeless mass : BLOB

118. Friend : ALLY

119. Actor Gosling : RYAN

121. Dennings of "2 Broke Girls" : KAT

123. Number of Beethoven operas : ONE. Fidelio.

124. "Far out!" : RAD

Mike Alpert told me yesterday that you don't have to be a ACPT competitor to attend the Cru Dinner. I hope some of our NY area readers can make it. Precious opportunity to mix and mingle with other solvers & constructors. The Saturday Stud might be there if his work schedule works out.

Splynter

C.C.

Saturday, Mar 1st, 2014, Mark Bickham

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing J,Q,Z)

Blocks: 30

    Eerie - I sensed we were getting a Mark Bickham puzzle yesterday....and he did not disappoint~!  This one was another white-wash to start (and hopefully not an omen to us NE dwellers come Monday), but in the 'hunt and peck' style of crossword solving, I got through to the "Ta-DA~!" in just over my allotted time.  Two grid-climbers paired with two 11-letter climbers, two triple-10 corners, and two inner triple 10's, to boot~!   Phew~!  Some of our longer fill:

1a. Title puppet dragon of '60s-'70s kids' TV : H.R. PUFNSTUF - a children's show just before my time, from Sid & Marty Krofft; they also produced the Krofft Supershow, which IS what I watched on Satuday mornings; it featured a segment called Wonderbug, which featured a character named C.C.~! (OK, it was a guy, but....)

3d. Chevrolet Camaro cousin : PONTIAC FIREBIRD - the Flaming Chicken, and one of my all-time favorite cars - the '77 version - I think it had the coolest rims, ever. And I grew up with Knight Rider, not Smokey and the Bandit~!

11d. Party person : POLITICAL LEADER - ah, not the "PAR-TAY" kind of party

12d. To summarize : IN A NUTSHELL

22d. It precedes the late news : PRIME-TIME TV

29d. Fictional threat to secret-keeping : X-RAY VISION - I did not give enough weight to the "fictional" part of the clue; I stared at -RAY-ISION (and in the down, it's even harder) for way too long; it's only when I tried TEX at 28a. that the V-8 can nearly clubbed me

63a. Highly rated individuals? : LOAN SHARKS - HAR-HAR~!! - I've seen enough TV crime drama to know that the interest is usually usury

ONWARD  rabbit  ONWARD  rabbit  ONWARD  rabbit  ONWARD
bunny bunny foot foot ONWARD

ACROSS:

11. Trading place : PIT

14. Supercilious : ABOVE IT ALL

15. Angular : BONY - I was going to link a picture of a skinny model, but they're too disturbing, even for me

16. Ristorante offering : MINESTRONE

17. Words after take or gain : A LAP - my first guess, but "take a lap" didn't seem right to me

18. Experience slightly : TASTE

19. Senseless : ASININE

21. Bee: Pref. : API - as in APIarists, also known as a beekeepers

23. One-eighties : UIES - short for U-Turns, but oh, which spelling to go with? I tried UEYS to start - BZZZT~!

25. Back porch luxury : HOT-TUB - I have been in a back porch hot tub; the porch was part of a house on a ski resort; quite an experience to relax outside at night surrounded by snow AND in your swim suit

26. Lady's love : TRAMP - the Disney movie

28. Bandleader Beneke : TEX - I went down the alphabet list; teD, tiM, toM, but stopped....

30. Ravel's "Gaspard de la __" : NUIT

31. Tiny parasites : LICE - nice - the plural got me; I went with NITS, but that's a crossword parasite

32. Alarms : SCARES

34. Oshkosh hrs. : CST - Winnebago county, Wisconsin and Central Standard Time - for another week, that it's CDT

36. Alternative to satellite : AM/FM

37. Name of eight popes : URBAN - and one New Zealand-born country music star

38. Lionized actor? : LAHR - Bert Lahr, who portrayed The Cowardly Lion

39. 30% of venti : SEI - A WAG, but I did know it was foreign numbers

40. Characteristic of some jacks : ONE-EYE

41. Zeno's home : ELEA

42. Hunter's setting : TRAP

44. "Slumdog Millionaire" star __ Patel : DEV - the "V" was my last fill

45. Comeback : RALLY

46. Frank : WIENER

48. In __: unmoved : SITU

50. 2002 British Open champion : ELS

51. Words spoken while stretching, perhaps : I'M BORED - ah, that type of stretching; I do healthy stretches before work and playing hockey

53. Old Toyota model : SUPRA

55. Tara of "American Pie" : REID - I thought it was this girl, but she's Alyson Hannigan

56. Great Plains dweller : PRAIRIE DOG - all I needed was the "G" at the end to make an 'educated' WAG

60. Raison d'__ : ÊTRE

61. Historical transition point : END OF AN ERA

62. Movie format : DVD

DOWN:

1. Omelet ingredient : HAM - Mark BickHAM~?!?

2. Diamond stat : RBI - for some reason, I was looking for a pitcher's stat on this clue, but diamond refers to anything baseball; I know there are a few of you out there who are keyed up for the new season

4. Iris holder : UVEA - DAH~!!! The eye part, not a VASE for the flowers (and that's fl-OW-ers, not Fl-OH-ers)

5. Spill the beans : FESS UP

6. Tucci's "Road to Perdition" role : NITTI - all PERPS

7. Rep in the city : STREET CRED - REPutation, and CREDibility

8. Eastern path : TAO

9. Prismatic bone : ULNA

10. Bygone Crayola shade : FLESH

13. Laid-back : TYPE-B - I'm OK with NOT being "Type-A"

15. Xhosa's language group : BANTU - complete WAG; well, I did have the "T"

20. Accelerator particles : IONS

21. Country album? : ATLAS - cute; no music here

24. "Can Do!" group : SEABEES - from the US Navy's Construction Battalion, or "CB"s

27. Part of an org. : MEM

32. Overhead light? : SUN - D-oh~!!! This took WAY too long for me to fill

33. From Okla. City to Tulsa : ENE

35. Airline conveniences : TRAYS

38. Pastoral place : LEA

40. Letters under TUV, perhaps : OPERator, on the old dial phones

43. Battery post : ANODE

45. Indonesian currency : RUPIAH - OK, I cheated - I have a MONEY table in my dictionary, and since I had R-P--H, I looked, and there it was - and yes, from Indonesia, no less~!

46. Condé Nast technology magazine : WIRED

47. Sicken : REPEL

49. Bailiwicks : TURFS - my one 'meh' answer for the day; I would have preferred some vague clue about artificial grass

52. Popular 1958 spy novel : DR. NO

54. "General Hospital" Emmy winner Sofer : RENA

57. Nabokov novel : ADA

58. Where "Shazbot!" is a curse : ORK - from the TV show Mork & Mindy

59. Natural __ : GAS

Splynter Splynter Splynter Splynter Splynter Splynter Splynter

Note from C.C.:

There are still spots left for the Cru Dinner on Friday March 7, 2014.  Please click here for more information. The dinner traditionally kicks off the ACPT and is a great opportunity to meet with constructors and fellow solvers.

I think you can still attend the dinner without being a ACPT competitor, right, Mike Alpert? Can our Splynter go there? (Mike is the organizer of the Cru Dinner.)

Brendan Emmett Quigley, Mike Alpert, Tyler Hinman

Friday, February 28, 2014, Daniel Landman

Theme: Pat, give me a G, no better make that a double! (an homage to our own Garlic Gal).

The letters "GG" are inserted into descriptions or expressions to create a new phrase clued wackily. My second offering from this rabbinical student living in Jerusalem, the first being a January Friday with PE removed from phrases. So we take away, we add, I wonder what is next. I like most of the theme, but not crazy about the middle grid-spanner for reasons listed below. The rest did not seem like a Friday at all with the plethora of 3,4 and 5 letter fill. with the longest non-theme fill 6 letters. Well into the fray, let's see where we come out.

18A. Non-magical "Harry Potter" animal? : MUGGLE DEER. (11). If you somehow missed the entire Harry Potter craze, Muggles are what the magical ones call humans. Mule Deer have big ears and live out west in the US.

23A. Camembert left out in the sun too long? : SAGGY CHEESE. (11). Supposedly the baring of the teeth which comes from enunciating 'Cheese' is where the expression started. Camembert like brie, often sags.

37A. Woman's enticing movements? : FEMININE WIGGLES.(15) A grid spanner, and the odd man out in two ways, as it is the only one with GG added to the second word, and the meaning of the phrase does not change much as wiggling is certainly one of the womanly ways of the world.

52A. Miracle in the mire? : BOGGY WONDER.(11). Boy wonder is used to describe any prodigy, from Mozart to David Steinberg; growing up in New England we all know BOGGS. I like the alliterative clue.

58A. Periodical dedicated to stylish boots? : UGGS WEEKLY. Are UGGS considered stylish, I always thought they were so named because they were ugly but comfortable? They advertise in US Weekly? Weakly?

and a bonus hint...

63A. Best Picture of 1958, and a hint to this puzzle's theme : GIGI. Love Maurice Chevalier, and I have always taken this advice to heart. LISTEN.(1:04).

Across:

1. "Poetic" or "Prose" mythological work : EDDA. No Icelandic hint on Friday.

5. Movie-rating org. : MPAA. Motion Picture Association of America

9. R&B singer known for popularizing Auto-Tune : T PAIN. Not only had I not heard of this artist, I had no clue there was such a device infecting modern music. I certainly was interested by the effects on Cher's Believe but I had no clue, even though I have heard the sound again. Jzb, your thought?  I really enjoy when a constructor teaches me something I never knew, and I feel rather foolish for missing the whole controversy. LINK.

14. Device for Marner : LOOM. Well George Eliot's Silas Marner will always stick in my mind if only because as a youngster  I was fascinated by George being a woman. The literary device of the LOOM can be discussed, but her contribution to Victorian literature in this and others like Middlemarch is only a question only of degree.

15. Orderer's reference : MENU. Orderer, what an awkward sounding word.

16. "In what way?" : HOW SO.

17. Not to mention : ALSO.

20. Shill : PLANT. The audience member placed there to fool the others into thinking they are having a good time, or need to spend money.

22. Serengeti predators : LIONS. Semi clecho, 25D. Serengeti scavenger : HYENA. Finally, 60D. Serengeti prey : GNU. Sums up the region and life.

26. Whammy : HEX. marks the spot? In Liverpool?

29. Cockney location word : ERE. We are not there, we are 'ere.

30. Bean opening? : SOY.

31. Constant flow : STREAM. Are we too early for prostate humor?

33. Annoy : MOLEST. I had a very hard time sussing this, as lots of people have annoyed me....

36. Inventing middle name : ALVA. Mr. Edison to you.

42. Gulf of __ : ADEN.

43. Stands : ARISES.

44. The Aztecs' Tonatiuh, for one : SUN GOD. Not up on my Aztec deities, but this filled easily.

47. Bert Bobbsey's twin : NAN.

48. Old sports org. with a red, white and blue ball : ABA. American Basketball Association. Home of the incomparable Dr. J., Julius Erving who played at UMass when I was in undergrad and graduate school in UConn. What a player, and the NBA owes the three point shot, slam dunk contest and other changes to the ABA. WATCH. (5:07).

 51. Germaphobia may be a symptom of it, for short : OCD. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

56. British bishop's headdress : MITRE. A word every crossword solver should know.

57. Target : AIM AT.

64. Japanese comics : MANGA. My kids were very into MANGA and ANIME, I will ask YR to explain more about how they fit in Japanese culture.

65. Kitchenware brand : EKCO. I heard that before.

66. First name in case fiction : ERLE. Stanley Gardner, creator of Perry Mason.

67. Rebuff : SPURN.

68. Lunkhead : DODO. A shout-out to our own who derives her nickname from her name not a reminder of the extinct bird which was believed to be not very intelligent.

69. One may make you uncomfortable : LEER. Or it might make you pretty excited...

Down:

1. Go by : ELAPSE. Where does the time go, we are on the downs already.

2. Almighty __ : DOLLAR. Ah yes, the American Dream.

3. How much to take : DOSAGE. Well after last Sunday, it is nice to see AGE make a comeback.

4. First __ equals : AMONG. An odd sounding phrase from the LATIN to describe the senior member of a group of peers.

5. "Dee-lish!" : MMM. Good.

6. Little, in Lille : PEU. Straight French, an accessible one for those who parle un peu.

7. Position, as a pool cue : ANGLE.

8. Bellow title hero March : AUGIE. This was the first of his three National Book Awards; I have read his work and enjoyed them, not equally, but certainly Herzog and Mr. Sammler's Planet have stuck with me. He also won a Pulitzer Prize and a Nobel Prize. However my favorite AUGIE (0:20) who would fit because of the 2 G's.

9. Place to browse : THE NET.

10. Sci-fi vehicles : PODS. The ships or the home of the body snatchers?

11. Reverence : AWE.

12. Expert finish? : ISE. If we complain about ADE as a puzzle answer, how Expertise?

13. Here-there link : NOR.

19. Fan's disappointment : LOSS.

21. 1980s-'90s heavyweight champ : TYSON. Now a media star. UNDISPUTED TRUTH. (3:26).

 24. E. follower : COLI.

26. Word after raise or catch : HELL.

27. Place for a nest, perhaps : EAVE.

28. Short holiday? : XMAS. I thinks this is cute; certainly once I saw the answer I thought it was cute.

32. Joplin works : RAGS. I know Scott Joplin wrote Ragtime music, but I was ready to nitpick, but... Merriam Webster says it is a composition in ragtime, short for ragtime. First Known Use: 1897

33. Artistic dynasty : MING. C.C. any thoughts? (C.C.: My first reaction is Tang, as it's the  peak of various arts, esp poetry and painting. I only associate MING with vases.)

34. Sun. message : SERmon. Sunday.

35. Strong like string : TWINY. String is not strong, twine is strong string which is doubled up.

37. Burkina __ : FASO. I have never heard of this COUNTRY, let alone know where it is located. Damn you American geography.

38. Cabinet dept. : EDUCation.

39. Heal : MEND.  A HEART? (3:00).

40. Part of Caesar's boast : I SAW. VIDI.

41. Italy's largest port : GENOA. No, I did nota noa that.

45. Sci-fi character nicknamed Ben : OBIWAN. Kenobi. Ken, ben?

46. Heap affection (on) : DOTE. Followed by....

48. Regard highly : ADMIRE. Which leads to....

49. Hunting dog : BEAGLE. Snoopy?

50. More pretentious : ARTIER.

53. "__ is good" : GREED. Saw the promo a million times.

54. "Wall Street" antagonist who said 53-Down : GEKKO.. Michael Douglas.

55. Spinal Tap guitarist Tufnel : NIGEL. One of many CREATIONS (0:50) of Christopher Guest.

56. Roman Cath. title : MSGR. Monseigneur.

58. Verbal stumbles : UMS. Er, I hope you all got this one.

59. Disparity : GAP. Like this?

 61. PC screen type : LCD. Liquid Crystal Display.

62. "__-hoo!" : YOO.  Boo-hoo, we are done for another week.

Before we go, I wanted to express my condolences to the family and friends of Harold Ramis, who died this week. He brought us ANIMAL HOUSE, GHOSTBUTERS, CADDYSHACK, and GROUNDHOG DAY among many others. Don't cross the streams!

Can you believe we are two months into the year already, the Olympics are over, and spring is on the way for all you who choose to live in the frozen north. I am off to my day job, so I will see you all at the beach next time. Lemonade out.

Thursday, February 27, 2014 Gareth Bain

Theme: "Breaking BARED"

Consistent country/money theme, with the money appearing as an anagram and clued appropriately.

17. *Place for a soak in Bangkok? : THAI BATH. "Bhat" is the currency of Thailand.

23. *Mumbai baby food? : INDIAN PUREE. "Rupee" is what the "Slumdog Millionaire" won a ton of.

36. *Low point in Oran? : ALGERIAN NADIR. "Dinar" is only 0.013 US Dollar.

47. *Stance in a Monterrey studio? : MEXICAN POSE. "Peso" is used in Monterrey, Mexico, but also Argentina, Chile, Columbia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, the Philippines and Uruguay.

And the revealer:

60. Emergency fund ... or what the second part of each answer to a starred clue ends with? : MAD MONEY. I was totally mystified while solving, because each theme entry seemed so straight-forward.  But when I got to the unifier, I became even more mystified. I finally realized that MAD was the hint - it referred to various currencies, all deranged. Aha!

The theme entries were noted with an asterisk, because of longer fill going across like HUMILIATE and SUPERHERO; and POMERANIAN and HALF-EXPECT going down - all great entries, BTW.

And here are the rest:

Across:

1. Sunshine State resort : BOCA. Raton. Late-week puzzles don't always indicate "for short."

5. Country in which Quechua is an official lang. : BOL.ivia. They replaced the PESO with the boliviano in 1864.

8. Transforms, as for a different medium : ADAPTS.

14. "Downton Abbey" title : EARL. Bill G., did you finally get to see the season ender?

15. Tablet maker : RCA.

16. Osaka-born violinist : MIDORI. Gotō.  At her 1986 Tanglewood performance, she broke three violin strings but didn't miss a beat, and Leonard Bernstein (the conductor) knelt before her in awe when she finished. Worth a listen, here.

19. Alligator cousin : CAIMAN. Cute little feller…

Caiman

20. Abase : HUMILIATE.

22. Holy territory : SEE. From the Latin "sedes" meaning "seat." All sees are holy, but "THE Holy See" refers to the Vatican.

27. Musical ability, in slang : CHOPS. It originally came from a jazz player's ability to hit high notes with their mouth ("chops"), and later referred to any musical ability.

30. As well : TOO.

31. Mimic : APE.

32. Edward Jones Dome NFL player : RAM. The RAMs now play in St. Louis, after leaving Los Angeles.

33. Rank below abbot : PRIOR.

35. Oilers' org. : NHL. National Hockey League.

40. Sharable PC file : PDF. Portable Document File.

41. Mah-__ : JONGG.

42. 2011 NBA retiree : YAO. Ming, the 7' 6" player for the Houston Rockets.

43. Porter, for one : ALE.

44. Effusive musical genre : EMO.

45. Knoxville sch. : U TENN.

51. Poker haul : POT.

52. Green Lantern or Green Arrow : SUPERHERO.

57. __ license : POETIC.

61. Mysterious : ARCANE.

62. Teacher, at times : PRO. Think golf.

63. Dig for 58-Down : MINE. And 58-Down. See 63-Across : ORE.

64. "We're outta here!" : LET'S GO.

65. Stop: Abbr. : STN. I usually think of the abbr. for "station" as "sta." That is what the US Postal service uses.

66. What the nose knows : ODOR. Fun clue!

Down:

1. Behrs of "2 Broke Girls" : BETH. She's the rich blonde. Funny interview on Conan. 1:41

2. Vans Triple Crown of Surfing locale : OAHU. No idea, but got it on a WAG.

3. Stuff : CRAM.

4. Et __ : ALII. Masculine form.  Female = aliae. Neuter = alia.

5. Mastermind : BRAINS. "He's the BRAINS behind the scheme."

6. Pie slices, often : OCTAD. I can't eat that many slices, so cut mine into sextets.

7. "Swing Shift" Oscar nominee : LAHTI. Christine.  The film also starred Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell.

8. Film buff's channel : AMC. Originally, abbr. of "American Movie Classics," but now just AMC because of the shift in emphasis away from classic movies.  But you can still get your old movie fix over at TCM (Turner Classic Movies.) I bet HG watches that one.

9. Scattering of an ethnic population : DIASPORA. The most well-known is the Jewish DIASPORA, but there are many others.

10. Continental farewell : ADIEU.

11. Toy dog breed : POMERANIAN. Like a big fluffy pom-pom!

Pom

12. Melodic syllable : TRA…la.

13. Preacher's topic : SIN.

18. Brief upturn : BLIP.

21. Getting down : EATING.

24. It may come before one : NOON.  Unless your are talking about 1 AM.

25. "I Feel Bad About My Neck" writer Nora : EPHRON. The title is a reference to her aging, wrinkled neck - the one part of the body that cannot be "re-surfaced" with plastic surgery.

26. Long swimmer : EEL.

27. Carry protectively : CRADLE. I wondered about coddle, then cuddle before CRADLE appeared with perps.

28. Anticipate uncertainly : HALF EXPECT.

29. Bit of shocked text : OMG. "Oh, my god!"

33. Evergreens with edible nuts : PINONS.

34. Lurid paper : RAG.

37. Escaping à la James Bond, perhaps : EJECTING.

38. Ovoid tomato : ROMA.

39. Microscope slide additive : DYE. This clue was right in my wheelhouse, but I still entered "oil" at first!

40. Nonstick brand : PAM.

45. Applied to : USED ON.

46. Time between inaugurations : TERM.

48. Little bits : IOTAS.

49. Inflation causes : PUMPS. Gas prices are creeping up again, but this refers to the pumps that actually inflate things like tires, beach balls or air mattresses.

50. Bridget Riley genre : OP ART. Move your head back and forth, sweeping your eyes across the picture, and you'll see why it is called...

Movement In Squares

53. __ erectus : HOMO. "Upright man" in Latin, he lived about 143,000 years ago.

54. Oklahoma city : ENID. 4 letter Oklahoma city? ENID. 5 letter Oklahoma city? Tulsa!

55. Attorney general after Barr : RENO. William and Janet.

56. __ and terminer: criminal court : OYER. "To hear and determine" in law. Gimme for Lemonade.

57. Sidekick : PAL.

59. Business VIP : CEO. Chief Executive Officer.

That's all for this week!

Marti

Wednesday, February 26, 2014, Bryan W. Young and Jeff Chen

Theme: TO GRANDMOTHER'S HOUSE WE GO. Not necessarily over the river, but definitely through the woods, where we encounter THE BIG BAD WOLF in hot pursuit of LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD.  Don't be alarmed if you had trouble finding them.  The forest provides lots of hiding places. [Full disclosure: I had to get help from C. C. to spot them.]  

Rich themage, and tight construction, as all of the WOLF's entries are the first words of two word answers (or first part of a compound word), hugging the left margin, and our heroine's entries are the second words of two word answers, hugging the right margin. Note also that from top to bottom, our antagonist's and protagonist's answers alternate. Unusual placement for some theme entries, along with a short letter-count for some of them makes this a bit hard to suss; but high marks for creativity in executing this difficult and original theme. Add in perfect alternating symmetry between the two answer types, and we have a very elegant execution.

16. "Blackadder" network : THE BBC.  British Broadcasting Company

26. Head honcho : BIG CHEESE.   Slang for top dog.

42. Unsavory sort : BAD EGG.  Can one spoil the whole crate?

 53. Borzois, e.g. : WOLFHOUNDS.  Top dog?

Source

20. Impressionist whom Mel Blanc labeled "The Man of a Thousand Voices" : RICH LITTLE.  I found an example that's not political.

 35. Show shame, perhaps : GET RED.  Blushing, when you can't suss the theme.

48. Driving with abandon : JOYRIDING. An automotive pleasure cruise.  Couldn't find an appropriate clip.

63. Prominent Ore. peak : MT. HOOD.  A stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc of northern Oregon, formed by a subduction zone on the Pacific coast.  It's last major eruptive period was about 200 years ago. Note abrv. in cl. & ans.

Hi Gang, JzB here. Let's grab our borzoi and see if we can make our way through this forest without getting lost or consumed.  But first, today's theme song.

 Across:

1. McCarthy's dummy friend : SNERD.  Edgar Bergen's pals Charlie and Mortimer.  Here they are with a LITTLE-free impersonation.
 
6. Baltic, e.g. : SEA.  Water you talkin' about?

9. Cougar : PUMA.  Mountain lion, not that other kind.

13. Canadian dollar coin nickname : LOONIE.  Named for the loon on the reverse of its dohller coin.

 

 Source

14. "I threw away my golf shoes when I got a hole in one," e.g. : PUN.  Double meaning word play

15. Computer operating system : UNIX.  Apple's OS X  is a variant.

17. Hosp. heart exam : ECG.  Electro- Cardio Gram

18. Medicinal dose : PILL.  Alternative to a spoonfull.

19. Cutie pie : DOLL.  Like Nancy Wilson.

23. Baltic feeder : ODER.   Does this river smell funny?

25. "... a __ / By any other name ..." : ROSE.  Would still be surrounded by thorns.

30. Tolkien's talking trees : ENTS.  They aren't actually trees. They just look like them.  But not in this forest.

33. Equal: Pref. : ISO.  -bar, -metric, -tonic, -mer, etc.

34. "The Mod Squad" cop : LINC.   He's the man in the middle.

Source

37. Smudge : BLUR.

39. '60s jacket style : NEHRU.

Source

41. UFO-tracking org. : SETI.  Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence

44. Respectful address : MA'AM.

46. From, in some European names : VON.  Like the von Trapp family.

47. Star witnesses? : MAGI.  Clever.  They followed yonder star.

50. Hispaniola, por ejemplo : ISLA.  Spanish island, for example.

52. Poet __ St. Vincent Millay : EDNA.  Famous for her poetry and many love affairs.

57. Gratify : SATE.  Like a basket of goodies, perhaps.

61. Put out : EMIT. 

62. Low numero : UNO. Also a card game, which could have been cited to avoid the Spanish

 65. Wither in the sun : BAKE.

66. Porter's "__ De-Lovely" : IT'S.  Like this DOLL.

67. B beater : A-MINUS.  Making the grade

68. Raised : BRED.  Like a Borzoi.

69. Look at : EYE.   Ogle the DOLLS.

70. Super Bowl XLVII player : NINER. San Francisco Forty-Niner. They lost to the Baltimore Ravens, 34-31.

Down:

1. Area below Greenwich Village : SOHO.  Lower Manhattan area South of Houston St.

2. Sleigh ride song : NOEL. Here we go a-caroling.

3. As a whole : EN BLOC.  I'll bet you have never said this in casual conversation.

4. Kid : RIB. Like an elbow poke there.

5. Making pronouncements : DECREEING.

6. A writer may work on it : SPEC.  Speculation - writing a piece without a contract, in the hope of selling it.

7. Trick-taking card game : EUCHRE.  Pronounced Yooker.  Popular game in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and Wisconsin.  People from other parts of the country might never have heard of it.

8. Prefix meaning "English" : ANGLO.

9. Portable shelters : PUP TENTS.  For your young borzoi.

10. Curriculum part : UNIT.

11. Grain grinder : MILL.

12. Rod in a hot rod : AXLE.  Keeps the wheels from falling off.

13. Letters on some Brit. letterheads : LTD. For Private Limited Liability Corporation.  Its shares may not be sold to the public.

21. Dancer Castle : IRENE.  She and her husband Vernon were the best known ballroom dancers of the early 20th century, and appeared in films and musicals.

22. Oracle's opening : I SEE.  Did you see this coming?

24. UPS competitor : DHL.  Shipping, transport, and import-export services company.

26. Lettuce variety : BIBB. A type of head lettuce with a loose arrangement of leaves, known for its sweet flavor and tender texture.

27. Imam's faith : ISLAM.

28. Fondue choice : GOUDA. A Big Cheese!

29. Knucklehead : SCHMO. Typical Yiddish insult beginning with SCH-.  Originally an idiot or cuckold.

31. "Three Coins ..." fountain : TREVI.  In Rome.

32. Resolute about : SET ON.  RED was SET ON getting to Granny's

35. Reserve soldier : GUARDSMAN.  This took a lot of perp help.

36. Minor dent : DING. As in your fender

38. Put a bad present to good use : RE-GIFTED.  If "put to good use" means "got rid of."

40. Like daisies : RAYED.

Source

43. Lillian of the silver screen : GISH.  Her movie career spanned 1912 to 1987.

45. Musical key abbr. : MIN.  Minor.  Here's an example from a major composer. Note the shift into major from 1:43 to 1:57 in this 3 minute clip.

48. Smart-looking : JAUNTY. Sometimes, I'm dumb looking, like when I can't suss the theme.

49. Enter quickly : DASH IN.

51. Character in "Donald's Nephews" (1938 cartoon) : LOUIE.  Along with Huey and Dewey

53. 5'7" Spud who won the 1986 NBA Slam Dunk contest : WEBB.  At 5'7", he's one of the shortest players in NBA history.  His career lasted from 1985 to '98.

54. "Rubáiyát" poet : OMAR. Per Wikipedia, Ghiyāth ad-Dīn Abu'l-Fatḥ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm al-Khayyām Nīshāpūrī was a Persian polymath, philosopher, mathematician, astronomer and poet. He also wrote treatises on mechanics, geography, mineralogy, music, and Islamic theology.  Busy guy.

55. Enjoy : LIKE. 

56. Bouquet : NOSE. Aroma.

58. Top-of-the-line : A-ONE.  Better than A-minus.

59. Visit with a guide : TOUR.  Like this guided tour through the forest.

60. Money mgrs.? : EDS.  Money Magazine Editors.  Sneaky.

64. Texter's "I didn't need to know that!" : TMI.  Too Much Information.

The theme was a tough nut to crack, and the long down fill further complicated the matter.  But still, a well-constructed, fun solve.  Hope you enjoyed it. Jeff Chen, of course, is a wily veteran who showed up in a collaboration when I last blogged two weeks ago. Looks like this might be Bryan Young's first L.A.T. entry.

Cool Regards

JzB