Saturday, Jul 27th, 2013, Brad Wilber

Theme: None

Words: 68 (missing J,Q,X,Z)

Blocks: 31

   Today's offering actually seemed better than the DNF I had yesterday (NE corner remained blank).  I have to say, I did use red-letter help in the Mid-West to solve Mr. Wilber's solo effort, but only because of a foreign word, a nick-name and an acronym I was not familiar with.  Something new in the grid - stair-stacked triple 10's off-center, to go with two 10-letter climbers and the usual triples in the corners.  Some fill from today:

20A. Herodotus and Thucydides, for two : HISTORIANS - I was thinking they might be Titans or Greek Islands, but it's really these Greek guys

45A. Homemade defense against a mind-control ray : TIN FOIL HAT - nailed it - such a great visual

12. Stephen Colbert bestseller subtitled "(And So Can You!)" : I AM AMERICA - I read it; typical TV fame-to-books money maker

25. Pessimistic J. Geils Band hit with the line "It's gonna make you cry" : LOVE STINKS - Music Link

O  w  r  ~!
  n  a   d

ACROSS:

1. Many a knockout punch : UPPERCUT - always a good feeling to start out with the correct 8-letter answer~!

9. There's a charge for it : OPTION - I have observed that a LOT of new cars do NOT come with turn signal indicators as standard; must be an expensive option - they were standard on my 2000 Dodge Stratus, and I use them all the time~!

15. Navigator's creator : NETSCAPE - ISP; I was trying to stretch Lincoln to fit - Navigator is their SUV

16. Mind the sitter : BEHAVE - The children, that is

17. Signs at a rally : PLACARDS - Eh, OK - I think of placards as the metal HAZ-MAT plates on trucks

18. Showed signs of being : SEEMED

19. These, in Tours : CES

22. Disk-shaped safety device : SMOKE ALARM - the Town inspector came out to look the apartment over Wednesday; must have been psychic, he left his car running in the driveway....He did point out that the building code requires the smoke alarm in the apartment to be hard-wired to the one in the house, so we could know if there was a fire over there - makes good sense to me

24. Baby shower gift : SLEEPER SET - sounds like Sleeper Cell, but I never saw this show

26. Recordholder's suffix : EST - "World's BiggEST ____" - you fill in the blank....

29. Ridge studied in forensics : WHORL - Fingerprints

30. One with "Esq." on the door : ATTorney

31. Liveliness : BRIO

32. Citrus-marinated South American fish dish : CEVICHE - Total unknown, so it got me; popular with 46D~?  More here

35. High-level disagreement? : YELLING - high decibels, that is

37. Not kosher : TREF - Learned doing crosswords

38. Styled after : À LA

40. Deep purples : PUCES - sounds so unappealing

41. Faltering sounds : UMs - OK, who started with ERs?

42. "The Winds of War" actress : ALI MacGRAW - 1983; her IMDb

47. Hotly contested area : SWING STATE

49. Riddle of the Sphinx answer : MAN - What goes on four feet in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three at night? - More here

52. Scratch : CANCEL - Makes me think of dictation - "Dear Sir or Madam...scratch that..."To Whom It May Concern..."

53. Fortifications : BASTIONS - I tried RAMPARTS, but had to take it out because it couldn't cross the "MOAT" at 49D

56. Acid neutralizer : ALKALI

57. Like Buckley's columns, say : LITERATE

58. Close again, in a way : RE-SNAP

59. In orbit : ECSTATIC - I was on this wavelength, but ELATED was too short

DOWN:

1. Insensitive, in a way : UN-PC - Not Politically Correct

2. Mononymous kicker : PELÉ - actually, his, er, "triptonym" is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, so I thought you'd like to know more

3. K-12 fund-raisers : PTAs

4. Backup key : ESC - Escape, top left on the keyboard - In AutoCAD, it is THE go-to key for ending any command; drawing a line, making a selection set, typing text.  What irks me is when I switch to Photoshop, it does NOTHING at all....

5. Dave Matthews Band label : RCA

6. Meals-on-wheels worker? : CAR-HOP - Har-Har~!

7. "Rabbit Is Rich" Pulitzer winner : UPDIKE - John, and this novel, one of four

8. Mosaic piece : TESSERA - I had heard this before, but I needed perps first; a small tile of glass, stone, etc.; through Latin, from Greek, meaning 'four'

9. Horse-and-buggy : OBSOLETE - I find drivers on cell phones to be really annoying; I wonder if 100 years ago horse-and-buggy types felt the same way about the 'new' automobile....and neither one is going away

10. Examine closely : PEER AT

11. "... __ finest hour": Churchill : THEIR

13. Roast spot : OVEN

14. Beatty and Rorem : NEDS

21. Scrumptious : TASTY

22. Font flourish : SERIF

23. Sporty Spice, familiarly : MEL C - Melanie Chisolm, from the "Spice Girls"

24. Col. Potter on "M*A*S*H," to pals : SHERMan T. Potter

27. Tough tissue : SINEW - animal tissue, that is

28. Garb : TOGS - a WAG that stayed

29. Pro-prohibition org. : WCTU - Women's Christian Temperance Union - never heard of it, but then again, I was anti-prohibition for 15yrs (LOL)

31. Spill, with "out" : BLURT

33. Petticoat alternative : HALF-SLIP

34. "Four Quartets" poet : ELIOT

36. Annika Sorenstam's gp. : LPGA - Ladies Professional Golf Association

39. Good-natured : AMIABLE

42. German chancellor Merkel : ANGELA

43. Language family including Turkish : ALTAIC - Turkic, Mongolian, and Tungusic, sez the dictionary

44. Drawer holders : CHESTS - The furniture, not this chest, ladies

46. Old Peruvian : INCAN

47. Trauma consequence : SCAR

48. Corduroy rib : WALE

49. Zoo trench : MOAT - Dinosaur Parks, too~!

50. Debate side : ANTI

51. One of 60 billion in a min. : NSEC - Nanosecond

54. Three-day festival : TET

55. SS supplement : IRA - Social Security, and Individual Retirement Account - changing it up from Monday level cluing

Splynter

Note from C.C.:

Melissa & her friends had their annual Girls Weekend Getaway a few weeks ago. Here are all the fun pictures. She said "there was a friend who was unable to join us this year, that's why we made those pics of her so that we could bring her along with us. it was almost like she was really with us - so funny."
 

Friday July 26, 2013 George Shayler

Theme: TURN IT AROUND (54A. Recover from a setback, and a hint to 20-, 33- and 40-Across) - IT is turned around and changed to TI.

 

20A. Sloppily kept tents? : CAMPING STIES. Camping sites.

33A. Low clouds on an East Asian island? : TAIWAN STRATI. Taiwan Strait.

40A. Conditions of kids' shoes, too often? : UNTIED STATES. United States.

Boomer here, pinch-hitting for Lemonade, who is sick. He'll be back next Friday.

I just wanted to start by mentioning a bowling tournament I was in last Sunday.  The lane conditions were tough, but I was doing okay, averaged 210 for 6 games and had won 4 of 6 matches.  Then I moved to my next pair, lanes 13 & 14 and tossed 3 splits, (not spltis), and a washout and scored 150 for the game.  I suspect this puzzle for you solvers was a Lanes 13 & 14.

Across:

1. "Little House on the Prairie" merchant ___ Oleson : NELS.  I never watched "Little House" but there are many guys named Nels here in Minnesota, don'tcha know.

5. Bit of trickery : TRAP

9. Genoan chiefs of old : DOGES - You could fill a nostril of a flea with my knowledge of Genoan chiefs.

14. Part of many co. names : INIT

15. Poet Teasdale : SARA

16. Far beyond the norm : ULTRA  -  A good brand.  Fleer made Ultra baseball cards, and there's a golf ball brand Ultra, for those who cannot afford Titleists.

17. See 36-Down : ACTE. And 36-Down: With 17-Across, intermission music: ENTR. Entr'acte.

18. Reunion nicknames : UNCS - If this is short for Uncles, then I suppose Aunts would be AUNS ??

19. Award for John le Carré : EDGAR. Mystery.

23. Tropical rainforest critter : IGUANA.  Many folks keep these for house pets.  They are kind of ugly, so they can replace a husband, (until it's time to fix something).

24. Pacific coast desert : ATACAMA - Of course I was trying to fit Mohave in here, Las Vegas, Southern Calif, etc.  I sort of forgot that Chile also has a Pacific Coast.  Apologies to my buddy, Jorge, from Santiago.

28. Top-selling 1980s game console : NES - Nintendo - Final Fantasy was great.

29. Key of Brahm's Piano Sonata No. 1 : C MAJ

32. Pill bug or gribble : ISOPOD - A crustacean that I've never heard of.

35. Genesis wife : LEAH - Seems Jacob had a couple of wives.

38. Prior to, to Prior : ERE

39. Louisiane, e.g. : ETAT - I get it - Louisiane is French for Louisiana, Etat is french for state.  Do you want fries with that??

45. "A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy" author : STERNE (Laurence)

46. Doctor's specialty? : SPIN - Why pick on doctors?  I prefer politician's specialty as a clue. 

47. "Ta-ta" : BYE

50. Locks without keys : TRESSES - Kind of a hairy answer that I didn't get right away.

52. Cooking surface : TEFLON - A DuPont innovation in the day.  They now have pans with surfaces so hard you can burn a block of cheese and it won't stick.

57. "Why Can't I?" singer Liz : PHAIR - Sorry, not well known to me.

60. "I'll say!" : AMEN - Latin for "So be it".  Often used and mis-clued in Crosswords.

61. Language written right to left : URDU - another virtually unknown reference.

62. Teegarden of "Friday Night Lights" : AIMEE

63. Equal: Pref. : PARI - My first thought was parimutuel betting at the track.  But that never seems to come out equal.

64. Troon turndowns : NAEs

65. Sporty Nissans : Z-CARS - In 1969, Nissan skipped the entire alphabet and produced their first Z-car in Japan.  Not sure why a Japanese company used our English alphabet ... or maybe I am. 

66. Austen heroine : EMMA - Not Ross Geller and Rachel Green's little girl?

67. London flat, perhaps : TYRE. Flat tyre.

Down:

1. Vitamin in liver : NIACIN - I guess this is vitamin B3 - for those who need to know.

2. Coop up in a coop : ENCAGE  - Picky, Picky - I am not sure if encage is a word.  I am pretty sure that a cage is not a coop.  The Metrodome is a cage, Target field is a coop.  (Flying objects can escape).

3. Substance in acid tests : LITMUS - Red is for acid, blue is for Alkaline, (Hall of Famer who played right field for the Tigers, before Detroit went broke.)  Purple is neutral, Vikings training camp opened this week. 

4. Process start : STEP A

5. Earthquake consequence : TSUNAMI - I never heard this term until a few years ago.  We always called them tidal waves when I was a kid.

6. Gave a buzz : RANG - Didn't like the clue.  Gave a buzz is what the barber did to your head a few days before boot camp.  Rang is more of a chapel bell sound.  It used to be a phone call before ring tones and vibrates.

7. Curved pieces : ARCS

8. It may be corkscrew-shaped : PASTA - yeah, Rotini, but it won't open a bottle of wine.

9. 90 degrees : DUE EAST - Only if you're facing North or South. 

10. It takes time to settle them : OLD SCORES

11. Ta-ta, to texters : GTG (Got to Go) - I don't text or tweet. 

12. Cheer competitor : ERA - Soapy Sales

13. Genealogically-based patriotic org. : SAR (Sons of the American Revolution) - TMAITP (Too many acronyms in this puzzle).

21. Andean native : INCA - Believe it or not, the Incas populated an area from Columbia to the ATACAMA Desert.  24 Across anyone?

22. Medical office closing? : ITIS - Arthritis? Hepatitis? Gingivitis? PLEASE, this is a suffix, not a closing.

25. ___ on the back : A PAT

26. Manny who ranks third in MLB lifetime pinch hits : MOTA - A great pinch hitter, mostly for the Dodgers and Pirates.

27. Colliery entry : ADIT

30. Blows away : AWES - Sorry, not really awed by this puzzle.

31. Horseshoes-like game : JARTS  - They changed the name to Lawn Darts, but then I think they had to pull it from the market due to injuries caused by accidents or misuse.  Later there was Posy Pitch, but it just didn't seem to catch on. Jarts was easier if you used a hula hoop instead of those small plastic rings they gave you.

33. Wanting more : THIRSTIER

34. Biweekly tide : NEAP - comes during the first and third quarters of the moon.  I think it could happen three times a month, say once every blue moon or so.

35. Zest : LUST - Zest is soap.  Lust is something for which you may need the soap.

37. Fits to ___ : A TEE - I have heard the expression but I still like golf peg or field goal kickers need.

41. Cinches : ENSURES

42. Ruminants with racks : DEER - Yeah, but only in the male deer.  Unlike humans where the females have the racks. 

43. Oberon's queen : TITANIA - I rest my case.

44. Cabinet dept. : ENER - I have only seen energy abbreviated this way when a pen runs out of ink.

47. Disc storage format : BLU-RAY - I hardly got used to standard DVDs when along comes Blu-Ray.  I suppose teeny discs for Google Glassed are next.

48. Over there : YONDER - "Lookie Yonder" was a standard phrase in the South.  Probably still is.

49. Ultimate purpose : END USE

51. Dumbledore's slayer : SNAPE - I have sent people on Snipe hunts.  I have never heard of Snape but he could be of the snipe family.

53. Source : FOUNT

55. Quran authority : IMAM

56. Period with limits : TERM - Frank Smith's term was over 250 episodes

57. Bolivia's La ___ : PAZ

58. Minute Maid brand : HIC - Took me awhile to see HI C.  I was thinking more the result of too much Scotch.

59. GP's gp. : AMA

I think I am done.  Thank you for reading this far.  Have a pleasant Friday, and for your trivia question of the day - Who was Joe Friday's original partner on Dragnet, before Bill Gannon?  If you have to Google it, you cannot win the prize.

Boomer

PS:  There is no prize.

Thursday, July 25, 2013 Matt Skoczen and Patty Varol

Theme: "Counterfeit Crossword."

The last shall be first:

59A. Swimming infractions, and what the first words of the answers to starred clues can all have :

FALSE STARTS. All the theme entries start with words that can make a common expression by adding "false" before them.

18A. *Union VIP : LABOR LEADER. False labor. Also known as "Braxton Hicks" contractions.

24A. *You might sleep through it : ALARM CLOCK. False alarm. Like false labor?

39A. *Self-esteem essential : POSITIVE IMAGE. False positive. As in, an incorrect laboratory result. (Whew, you mean I wasn't really pregnant??)

49A. *1998 Sandra Bullock film : HOPE FLOATS. False hope. Oh well, we can always adopt a puppy.

Marti here with this week's Thursday contribution. And there were plenty of tricky spots that could have been my undoing, but I finished in almost my typical Monday time.

Across:

1. "The Walking Dead" network : AMC. I always skip these type of "network" clues until I have some perps in place. AMC used to be known as "American Movie Classics," but now they have de-emphasized the abbreviation because of a shift in focus. So no need for Abbr. in the clue.

4. Home of William, known for his logical "razor" : OCCAM. We are not talking Gillette here.  A philosophical "razor" is a premise that lets you eliminate the unlikely explanations for something.

9. Dubuque native : IOWAN. Because "Siouan" didn't fit.

14. John of England : LOO. Was anyone fooled by this toilet humor?

15. "Guess again!" : WRONG.

16. Aria response, perhaps : BRAVO. Because "encore" didn't fit.  See how easy this was?

17. Poet's eye : ORB.

20. Image on Irish euro coins : HARP.

22. Weigh station unit : TON.

23. Kitchen extension? : ETTE. Kitchenette.

27. Abates : EBBS.

30. Feedback for a masseuse : AAH.

31. Tip for smokers : ASH. Because "quit" didn't fit.

33. José's hooray : OLE.

34. It may contain a $10 bottle of water : MINI BAR. Funny clue, but alas - so true! And 54-Down. High-end : STEEP. "That water sure is steep!"

37. Bicker : ARGUE.

41. Super 8, e.g. : MOTEL. You won't find $10 bottles of water in their mini-bars.

42. The Big Easy, to locals : N'AWLINS. Hahtoolah, is that really how you say it?

43. "Yuck!" : UGH.

44. S.A. country : ARG.entina. For some reason, I thought they were talking about "South Africa." Duh!

46. Inc. cousin : LLC. Limited Liability Corporation. [Update: It stands for Limited Liability Company. Thanks Vidwan827!]

47. Silk road desert : GOBI. Map.

55. Peas, at times : AMMO. I can just picture DH and I flinging peas at each other across the table.

57. "Deathtrap" playwright Levin : IRA.

58. Horseradish, e.g. : ROOT. I love fresh horseradish.

63. An invitation might include one: Abbr. : RTE. Route.  Is that still true? I used to include a map when I sent invitations to our house, but now I just give them the GPS coordinates!

64. Small landmass : ISLET.

65. Prepare to be dubbed : KNEEL.

66. Casual top : TEE. and 67. Sculpted works : BUSTS. [snicker]...how about sculpted BUSTS with wet TEEs?

68. Après-ski drink : TODDY. Brandy, honey, lemon, hot water and tea.  I usually ask for mine without the tea, hot water, lemon and honey.

69. Intensify, with "up" : AMP.

Down:

1. Sign of tropical hospitality : ALOHA. Because "lei" was too short...

2. Parable message : MORAL.

3. Hooded slitherer : COBRA.

4. Hooter : OWL.

5. Tiny Tim's surname : CRATCHIT. Do you remember this Tiny Tim's surname?

6. Early computer language : COBOL. COmmon Business-Oriented Language.

7. "That's ___!" : A NO-NO.

8. Ball club VIP : MGR. Manager. And now we move into the baseball portion of the puzzle...

9. Skeptic's reply : I BET.

10. Speak with style : ORATE.

11. Besides Derek Jeter, only Major Leaguer whose 3,000th hit was a homer : WADE BOGGS. Did not know that. Did know Wade Boggs from x-words. More baseball.

12. City map abbr. : AVE.nue.

13. Here-there link : NOR. "That's neither here nor there!"

19. Change in Albania? : LEKS. Not sure this one really needed the "?"

21. Laud : PRAISE.

25. Tropical capital : MANILA.

26. Seven-time A.L. batting champ : CAREW. Of course C.C. knows him - he played for the Minnesota Twins at one time. Baseball, again.

28. Really bummed : BLUE.

29. Observe : SEE.

32. Skater known as "America's sweetheart" : HAMILL. Dorothy. She developed the "Hamill Camel" skating move. (at 0:22-0:28 on the clip.)

34. Puts in storage : MOTHBALLS. Interesting article about "mothballed" ships.

35. Word shouted at church : BINGO. Because "amen" was too short...

36. Actress Gardner : AVA.

38. Bitterness : RANCOR.

39. Kelly's possum : POGO.

40. Like star-crossed lovers : ILL-FATED.

41. Ham it up for a shooter : MUG. I was always the one who ruined the family photos by crossing my eyes just as the flash went off.

45. P-like letters : RHOS.

48. "You ready?" answer : I'M SET. (Then GO!!)

50. Grand ___ : PIANO.

51. Had to say "Oops," say : ERRED.

52. Vital conduit : AORTA.

53. Clan symbol : TOTEM. Thinking of Scottish clans here, I wanted "plaid."  But the Scots call the pattern "tartan." To them, "plaid" means a tartan cloth slung over the shoulders, or even a simple bed blanket. Who knew?

56. Ball club whose colors are blue and orange : METS. Enough with the baseball!

59. Little white lie : FIB.

60. Sch. with a Mesa campus : ASU. Arizona State University.

61. Box office buy: Abbr. : TKT. Ticket.

62. Slick : SLY. Since MS-PV did not allow me any other opportunity, I will close with this particularly appropriate link!

See you next week!

Marti