Saturday, May 2nd, 2015, C.C. Burnikel

Theme: Altered States

Words: 70 (missing Q,V,W,X,Z)

Blocks: 33

   Nice - A Saturday solve from our blog host C.C.~!  Of course, it would not be a C.C. Saturday puzzle unless it had a theme, which I got right away - but had one answer in the wrong position.  Have to say, it was looking pretty grim after the first pass; too many proper names, and some properly vague clues made my grid very blank.  I'll have to call out a few "fun sponge" answers*.  Triple 6- and 8-letter corners, two 10-letter climbers, and the 11-letter themes.  Let's take a look at the theme answers:

27. Capital that starts with a month : JUNEAU ALASKA - June - oh.  So cool how both answers had the same # of letters

45. Capital that starts with a month : AUGUSTA MAINE - August - a . Very proud for thinking of this one right away, but I put it in the 27a. spot.  Oh well.

~!

ACROSS:

1. Caret-shaped letter : LAMBDA - ah, Greek letter                    

=      ^

7. Entertainer whose name is Spanish for "churches" : IGLESIAS - I cheated; Helen at the restaurant helped me out with this, and 28d.

15. Film set in 2035 : I,ROBOT - I thought "I Am Legend", also with Will Smith, was better

16. Connected with : TRACED TO - I had "LEANEST" at 9d., which messed me up

17. Chinese discipline : TAI-CHI - not taOISM

18. Hood : GANGSTER - I was looking for the place, not the person

19. Duke collaborator : ELLA - Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald (p.s., Helen tells me "ella" is "she" in Spanish; I need to learn the language)

20. Sign of a spill : SLICK - Oil spills; think BP

22.* __ Chicago : EAST - fun sponge~!  Not too vague....

23. Torments : MISERIES - the noun, in this case

26. Fast sports cars : GTs

31. Lacking heat? : UNARMED - har-har~!  Gun = 'heat' in the gangster 'hood

32. 2009 MTV Generation Award winner : STILLER - Ben - I don't watch the MTV awards, so this was unknown

36. Carol kings : MAGI - I was thinking of the people who sing at your doorstep, not the subject of the song itself (oh, and har-har on your pun, C.C.)

37. Stud site : LOBE - earring reference; not "wall"

38. Medium : PSYCHIC - we have a famous one, right here on L.I.

42. Desert : ABANDON - ah, the verb, not the place

47. Pay stub? : OLA - payola

50. Common knowledge : NO SECRET - it's common knowledge what image I am thinking of for 9d.

51. "__ again?" : COME

53. One of four Holy Roman emperors : OTTO I

54. "A Few Good Men" gp. : USMC - Did you hear what the toll collector's supervisor told him the day he got fired~? "You can't handle the booth~!"

58. Item required to be included on Nutrition Facts labels since 2006 : TRANSFAT - nailed it

60. Predicament : SCRAPE - I am still trying to solve my little "predicament"; C.C. knows why "Alexa" was only 55.5% correct in last week's puzzle

62. Walter White on "Breaking Bad," for one : ANTI-HERO - never watched, but I am told I need to - that and "Dexter"

63. Rode : TEASED

64. Placed a confident bet : LAID ODDS

65. Claim : ALLEGE

DOWN:

1. Like some salad dressing : LITE

2. Sea ruined by extensive irrigation projects : ARAL

3. Work like a dog : MOIL - not Toil; not to be confused with a Jewish 'mohel'

4. "Doctor Who" airer : BBC AMERICA - also carries Top Gear, but I am no longer watching due to the firing of Mr. Clarkson

5. "Am I an idiot!" : D'OH~!

6. Debatable : AT ISSUE

7. Certain media darling : "IT" GIRL

8. Word of thanks : GRACIAS - and yet more Spanish

9. Most long and slender : LANKEST - I don't associate "lank" with sexy, so I'm gonna pass on a gratuitous legs image

10. Hosp. readout : ECG

11. Zaire's Mobutu __ Seko : SESE - Popular in crosswords, but it took me a minute to commit to "Sese"; didn't seem right

12. Security aid : ID TAG

13. Blast from the past : A-TEST - nuclear blast, that is

14. Thing that's no fun to be out of : SORTS - toyed with "Synch"; out of sorts, out of sync(h)

21. Pet controller : LEAD - I think this is more British than America's "leash"

24. Sum, to Claudius : I AM - not the adding 'sum', just straight up Latin

25*. Footwear item for Bode Miller : SKI

27. __ shot : JUMP - Could have been "LONG", too.  The third verse in this song mentions 'jump shot'

Paul Simon - Boy in the Bubble

28. Article in El Sol : UNAS - Helen tells me it's "some"; ergo a part of speech found in the local Latino paper

29. '90s Cleveland Indians pitching standout Charles : NAGY - no C.C. crossword would be complete without a baseball clue.  In the Stanley Cup playoffs, my NY Rangers blew their first game against Washington; better hope they pull back tonight

30. Label on some whole foods : ALL NATURAL

33. California's self-proclaimed "Zinfandel Capital of the World" : LODI - toyed with Napa, but that's the valley; both are towards the top of CA

34. "... crafty seer, with __ wand": Pope : EBON - Alexander Pope, poet

35. Kevin's "Tin Cup" co-star : RENE - I loved her in this movie; great, great story

39. Horde member : HUN - not "ORC"

40. Embarrassed admission : "I GOOFED"

41. Tart filling : CUSTARD

42. Early Bee Gees label : ATCO - 50% perps, 50% WAG

43. Bean expert : BARISTA - coffee bean, and I was not fooled

44. Soul, to Sartre : ÂME - Frawnche; in Latin, we have Sum, Esse (Fui, Futurus) - "to be"

46. Dustups : SET TOs

47. In base eight : OCTAL

48. Daughter of Lady Dugal, as it turns out, in an 1869 novel : LORNA - perps

49. Violin pioneer : AMATI

52*. Two-part poem in "Idylls of the King" : ENID - the Wiki

55. Convenient encl. : S.A.S.E.- self-addressed, stamped envelope

56. Video file format : MPEG

57. Turn over : CEDE

59. "Homeland" sta. : SHO

61. Dopey picture? : CEL - Dopey, the dwarf, from the animated movie "Snow White"

Splynter

Friday, May 1, 2015, Max Carpenter

Theme: I love U double!

In my current fog I have not located the record for the most use of the letter "U" in the LAT 15x15 puzzles, but the NYT record is 19. This puzzle has 34 "U"s. This I guess is as close to a rebus as Rich will allow, sort of an antonym to rebus with a letter spread into two spaces instead two squeezed into one. Anyway, white rabbit, white rabbit and welcome to the new month. May 1 has so many histories two examples LINK, and LINK.

We appear to have yet another debut puzzle, with his previous published work maybe in a college paper. Anyway, the puzzle was a gridding challenge to not only fit in 34 "U"s but to match up the perps. Max also gives us some lively intermediate fill, ACCUSE,  ALAMOS,  ANORAK, ARAFAT, BIKINI,  BRETON,  ERES TU, EUCLID, MOUNDS, YEASTY, ALGEBRA, CRITERIA, DICAPRIO,  RENOUNCE and  TOLERANT, which are nice contrasts. With theme answers ranging from 3 letters to a grid spanner and 18 of them we have work to do. (18 is a lucky number to some.) I look forward to the comments as without understanding the theme this would be impossible, and I know some do not like fill that is not a real word, yet creativity must be rewarded....

17A. Tennis shot delivered from between one's legs : TUUEENER (8). TWEENER. Not familiar with the term in tennis so the start was slow

20A. Duo : TUUO (4). TWO. Obviously the cluing cannot be too deceptive.

22A. Conference, informally : POUU UUOUU (9). POW WOW. The visual is so cool.

37A. Blogosphere backdrop : UUORLD UUIDE UUEB (15). WORLD WIDE WEB. This also is awesome, finding a 15 letter one.

44A. Quarterback's target: Abbr. : UUR. (3) WR, wide receiver. (Not part of the theme but a clecho) 46A. One targeting the quarterback : CENTER.)

48A. Socially inept : AUUKUUARD (9). AWKWARD. As is the look of the fill.

58A. Slapstick performer : CLOUUN (6). CLOWN.

2D. Sad : LOUU (4). LOW.  Feeling down.  (Not part of the theme but a clecho follows)

3D. Sad : GLUM.  This fill was key to my unlocking the theme.

6D. Really let loose : RAN UUILD (8). RAN WILD. One of my favorites of the theme fill.

7D. All over again : ANEUU (5). ANEW. With this many themers we were bound to get an A word.

10D. Declare : AVOUU (5). AVOW.

25D. High-profile caucus locale : IOUUA (5). IOWA. Election time coming soon along with the robocalls.

33D. Function : UUORK (5). WORK. Needed perps.

36D. Rod with power : UUAND (5). WAND.

38D. Court case : LAUUSUIT (8). LAWSUIT.

45D. Pigtailed redhead in a restaurant logo : UUENDY (6). WENDY. Dave Thomas' little girl.

48D. Leather craftsperson's beltful : AUULS (5). AWLS.

50D. Hospital division : UUARD (5). WARD.

And the reveal, 64A. Letter that hints at how 18 answers in this puzzle should be filled in : DOUBLE U (7).

Well with well over 100 spaces of theme let's see what he managed with the rest.

Across:

1. Math course : ALGEBRA. We also have Geometry below.

8. Oslo Accords participant : ARAFAT.Not politics, but HISTORY.

14. Broad-minded : TOLERANT. How appropriate to be next to a clue about Middle East peace talks.

16. Ranks : LEVELS. In the UK, students used to take O levels and then A levels to determine their academic future. I will let NC and our own Steve elaborate.

18. Cold-climate coat : ANORAK. In the US we usually call them parkas.

19. "Sounds good!" : YUM. Look good as well.

21. Almond Joy cousin : MOUNDS. Some days you feel like a nut....

24. Suit at a shoot : BIKINI. Nice word string in the clue, but I wondered if I am the only one who thought of this use of the ATOLL and the inclusion of 8D. Los __, New Mexico : ALAMOS,  the home to the Manhattan project and site of many tests. Coincidence?

27. Nine-digit no. : SSN.

28. Secretly send a dupe email to : BCC.

31. Unique : LONE.

32. Large moth : LUNA. Now this feels like a John Lampkin. He clued them as pale green moths in 2012 NYT.

35. Spicy Indian dish : CURRY. I will curry favor with my wife and mention her delicious versions of this Asian DISH.

40. Oklahoma city : TULSA.

41. Marriott competitor : OMNI. OMNI is luxury hotel, Marriott has many classes of hotel in their chain.

42. One way to get a hand : ANTE.

43. IBM-inspired villain : HAL.

51. Point one's finger at : ACCUSE. A reminder from Monday's puzzle/write up, and a very disturbing silent movie about war. J'ACCUSE.(5:42).

54. Apartment manager, for short : SUPE. Short for Super, short for superintendent.

55. Chronological start? : CEE. The old first letter trick.

59. Ceremoniously ushers : MARSHALS. Parades?

61. Geometry giant : EUCLID. I leave commentary to Fermat and Bill G and others more qualified. I was a math major for three months.

62. Yardsticks : CRITERIA.

63. Like the smell of rising dough : YEASTY. Is that what starts the juices flowing?

Down:

1. ABA member : ATTY.

4. Broad shoe size : EEE.

5. Jacques Cartier or Jules Verne, e.g. : BRETON. I found this FACT very obscure, but I was aware of the Celtic influence in France.

9. Formally abandon : RENOUNCE. I really liked this next to AVOW.

11. Fronded bit of flora : FERN.Alliteration abounds.

12. "__-in His Lamp": Bugs Bunny cartoon : A LAD. A Jerome worthy movie pun.

13. Impatient utterances : TSKS.

15. Slacks, briefly : TROUsers. Drop trou has so many connotations....

22. Strolling areas : PIERS.

23. Bolt with great speed : USAIN. A Super STAR.

24. "Arrested Development" surname : BLUTH.

26. Hillock : KNOLL. My generation will only think about a grassy one in Dallas.

28. Main impact : BRUNT.

29. Minos' kingdom : CRETE.

30. Modern crime head? : CYBER. Cybercrime. Anyone watching this SPIN-OFF which tries to meld their franchise shows with the popularity of nerds?

34. O.T. book : NUM. The beginning of a biblical mini-theme with 57 and 60D.

39. "The Wolf of Wall Street" star : DICAPRIO.

47. 1974 Mocedades hit : ERES TU. I had heard the song but had no idea of the ARTISTS. (3:14)

49. DOD branch : USMC. Semper Fi CSO to Argyle Dennis and all who served.

51. __-deucey : ACEY. The card game? The backgammon variation?

52. Footprint, maybe : CLUE.

53. Partner of Caesar : COCA. Imogene. A wacky woman who had a turn in the Vacation movies.

55. Swedish King __ XVI Gustaf : CARL. The reigning King, and has been for 42 years.

56. "Night" author Wiesel : ELIE. The Holocaust Remembrance Day was recent and we had a band which had two survivors as members perform at the ceremony at our little synagogue.

“Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed....Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my G-d and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as G-d Himself. Never.”
 Elie Wiesel, Night 

57. Isaac's hirsute son : ESAU. From Genesis, Old Testament to Christians, simply Torah to Jews.

60. N.T. book : HEBrews. New Testament, i.e. Christian TEXT.

UUell that was quite a UUorkout; UUhat did you all think? I hope Max stops by and I thank you all. Lemonade out.