Theme: "I have a new leash on life!!" Dog puns, what could be better? Animals and puns in one puzzle? You are my new heroine, Donna Levin!!
17A. Blue-tongued dog in the canine version of the "Twilight" series? : CHOW BELLA. "Ciao, bella" ("Hello, beautiful") is a typical Italian greeting. I lived in Milano for a while, and don't remember hearing this expression said to me...
25A. Powerful dog that loves a Passover staple? : MATZO ROTTIE. "Maserati". More Italian - this time, a cool sports car.
37A. Rumbas for retrievers? : LAB DANCES. "Lap dances"...(Uh, C.C., am I allowed to link this??)
51A. Engages in toy dog smuggling? : SNEAKS A PEKE. "Sneaks a peek". Take a peek at this one. Cute!
61A. Scholarly little Spitz? : POM READER. "Palm reader". Now, here's a good pom reader!
Marti here again...Sorry you have to endure 'me' two days in a row - Lemon is not available, and asked me to blog today. So, I guess this is your "punishment" for not having any puzzles to critique from me this month. Anyhoo....let's see what Donna has in store for us today:
Across:
1. Stretch in the womb : TERM. I wanted "mark". Ugh, use lots of cocoa butter!!
5. Stare open-mouthed : GAWP. I love that word..."To gape or gawk". For you Jerome: GWAP.
9. Sauce made with pine nuts : PESTO. Jeannie, where are you? Here is her
GARLIC SCAPE PESTO
Makes about 1 cup
10 garlic scapes, finely chopped
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan (to taste and texture)
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
About 1/2 cup olive oil
Sea salt
Put the scapes, 1/3 cup of the cheese, pine nuts and half the olive oil in the bowl of a food processor. Whir to chop and blend all the ingredients and then add the remainder of the oil and, if you want, more cheese. If you like the texture, stop; if you'd like it a little thinner, add some more oil. Season with salt. I usually serve it on crusty bread, but it’s also killer tossed with pasta and shrimp.
(My comment: Yummmmm!)
14. Samoa's capital : APIA. (You may have to zoom in to see "Apia" on this link.)
15. Flier since 1948 : EL AL. Israeli airline.
16. Different : OTHER. Not me!
19. Madame Gorbachev : RAISA. Classy lady.
20. Numerical prefix : TETRA. Oh, please, Donna! Give me a hint, at least!! Penta-, hepta-, ennea-, (Get the whole list, here.)
21. Trans Am option : T-TOP. Like this. And 68A. 21-Across, e.g. : ROOF. And 23 D. T-Mobile competitor : ATT. I switched from T-Mobile and a Blackberry to ATT and an i-Phone.
24. Promise preceding a pronouncement : I DO. (Did I really say that????)
29. Tireless campaign : CRUSADE. Lancelot from yesterday, where are you?
31. Partial : BIASED. I think I am a little biased about this puzzle.
32. Convenient encl. : SASE. Self Addressed Stamped Envelope.
33. Body sci. : ANAT.omy
36. Secondary railroad line : SPUR
40. Crockpot concoction : STEW. Julia Child's "Stew" from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking"is a little more complicated than making one in a crockpot, but well worth it. Here is the recipe - try it!
42. "Go on!" : SHOO. SCAT! SCRAM! SCOOT!
43. Victor's wife, in "Casablanca" : ILSA. Ohhh, melt me now. My favorite movie...along with Fermatprime, Husker Gary, AvgJoe, Lucina, BillG, Yellowrocks...Misty, have you watched it yet????
47. "Magnificent" mystic : CARNAC. Johnny Carson. "Sis Boom BAAAA". Priceless!!
49. Sources of local college tension : TOWNIES
54. Smidgen : BIT
55. ___ certain age : OF A. Me? Noooo...
56. Place for Sundance? : ETTA. HaHa, fun clue. Etta Place was the schoolmarm who was The Sundance Kid's flame. (But Paul Newman "Butch Cassidy" got to take her for a "ride"). 5:00. Katharine Ross, who could forget??.
57. Nepal rumbler : RHINO. I saw a white rhino and her baby at the Basel Zoo. The baby kept gamboling around, and I could just hear the mother saying "Will you PLEEEZE stop?!?!?"
59. Off : NOT ON. OK, so maybe I was NOT ON yesterday?
64. Mardi Gras parade group : KREWE. I just learned this fact from my friends last year. They live in Metairie, and invited us to their KREWE parade. I bet this was a gimme for Hahtoolah!!
65. Medicinal house plant : ALOE
66. Japanese sandal : ZORI. This footwear.
67. Tacked on : ADDED
69. Firenze pronoun : ESSA. Italian for Itt? OK, I'm just being smart-alecky. "Essa" means "It" in Italian. Thank goodness, I lived there and know what they wanted with this clue!
Halfway there....
Down:
1. Maneuvers : TACTICS
2. FDA-banned herbal supplement : EPHEDRA. Huh, it has been used by the Chinese for the treatment of allergies and hay fever for 5000 years. But the US banned it as of 2004? Who would you believe? C.C., I need your advice!! (C.C.: I can't tell, Marti, I've never used Ephedra.)
3. Not just funny : RIOTOUS. Slap my knees!
4. Bryn-___ College : MAWR. I always wondered where the word "Mawr" came from. It means "Big Hill" in Wales. Who knew?
5. "Fancy that!" : GEE. Gee, who knew?
6. To a man : ALL
7. Chopin work : WALTZ. Woo-Hoooh, finally, a chance to link music!! 3:53
8. "Phaedo" philosopher : PLATO.
9. Mammal whose name derives from the Latin words for "pig" and "fish" : PORPOISE. I love learning derivations of words, and this clue gives me two!
10. Greek vowel : ETA. Greek "Alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, zeta, ETA !! (Or, "Estimated Time of Arrival", at LAX..)
11. Acupressure technique : SHIATSU. Ooooooh...I love my shiatsu massages! (aahhh!)
12. More cranky: TESTIER. Or, like some worse audiences? (Unshameful plug, sorry!)
13. Spoke : ORATED
18. Ole Miss rival : BAMA. Fun clue -- DH went to 'Ole Miss, so this was a gimme!
22. Sphere : ORB
26. Very little : A DAB. "A little dab'l do ya!" (Is she talking about his hair, or something else...)
27. Watches over : TENDS
28. Sinks an easy putt : TAPS IN. OK, so Husker Gary, was this a "tap in" for you??
30. 1993 Best Mexican-American Album Grammy winner : SELENA. "I'd like to thank..."
34. "Open wide" response : AAH
35. Govt. issue : T-NOTE. Treasury note. A good, solid investment. But not as promising as a scratch ticket (We're rich!!) (..were rich). (Thanks, Desper-otto!!)
38. Came to : AWAKENED
39. Falsify, as books : COOK. Oh no!, see 40A!!
40. Redd's Fred : SANFORD. Really? I have to link this sit-com?
41. Took care of : TREATED
44. Freudian principles : LIBIDOS. Oooooh, I could go all DF here...
45. Dragnet users : SEINERS. Hmph, I was all ready to say "WTF"??? but, then I gg'd this and realized how stupid I am...
46. New York's Waldorf-___ : ASTORIA
47. Dolphins Hall of Famer Larry : CSONKA. Made me think of this guy...but no, they are talking about this guy...
48. St. Paul hrs. : CST. Central Standard Time.
50. Used to be : WERE. (See 35-D)
52. Stock phrase : AT PAR
53. Author of epistolas : PAOLO. Um, I think I would know these as the "Epistles of St. Paul"?
58. Visibility hamperer : HAZE. Myopia, macular degeneration, cataracts..hey, at our age, you have a lot of issues!
60. Be a bit shy : OWE. Fun clue for "being in debt".
62. Jersey sound : MOO. Of course, we are talking about these Jerseys, not these, from "Jersey Shore".
63. Flag carrier : REF. OK, ref, don't judge me for my blog today!!
Answer grid.
Not the same time, but I'll see you next week!
Hugs,
Marti
