Theme: AX me no questions and I will tell you no lies. Each of the three theme answers is a familiar phrase with one of the words chopped open and AX is inserted creating an entirely new phrase and visual image. No J's but a very fun Friday and our first 2012 puzzle from a constructor whose May 2011 debut, I had the pleasure of writing up where he replaced DDs with ZZs. He is the LA based pediatrician who stopped by to visit with us. The unifier here is also a visual clue, so lets see what we have today.
19A. What the Easter Bunny has to report to the IRS? : TAXABLE HOPPING. Table hopping morphs into a confrontation between two powerful institutions.
29A. Sitcom about a family of Dresden residents raised by a single parent? : MY THREE SAXONS. An easy one if you recall this STATE in Germany and the old Fred MacMurray TV series.
38A. Bison spa service during bikini season : BUFFALO WAXING. What a visual! Miss Bison laying back to smooth those lines. Peter, all that from a little chicken wing dipped in hot sauce. What an imagination! And the unifier:
51A. Make peace, and a hint to how 19-, 29- and 38-Across were formed : BURY THE HATCHET. Again, you see the hatchet (AX) being buried in each answer. A tight theme, not as extensive as some but I found them all well done. On with the rest....
Across:
1. Ignition charge? : ARSON. Not car starting, but illegal fires, very tricky way to begin the day.
6. Yahoo : BOOR. Okay, we are doing a Friday and nothing is easy. Not the company, but the company you do not want to keep.
10. Set-designing initials? : RCA. Okay Peter, now we have a hidden reference to TV sets; we may be here a while.
13. Sierra ___ : LEONE. Our GEOGRAPHY lesson. It had to be this or Madre.
14. Bouncer in an empty bar? : ECHO. Another great clue and we just started, not some big out of luck football player, but sound.
15. Canvas : POLL. Our political question for this election year.
16. "Eight Elvises" artist : ANDY WARHOL. Where did he get his titles?
19A. What the Easter Bunny has to report to the IRS? : TAXABLE HOPPING. Table hopping morphs into a confrontation between two powerful institutions.
29A. Sitcom about a family of Dresden residents raised by a single parent? : MY THREE SAXONS. An easy one if you recall this STATE in Germany and the old Fred MacMurray TV series.
38A. Bison spa service during bikini season : BUFFALO WAXING. What a visual! Miss Bison laying back to smooth those lines. Peter, all that from a little chicken wing dipped in hot sauce. What an imagination! And the unifier:
51A. Make peace, and a hint to how 19-, 29- and 38-Across were formed : BURY THE HATCHET. Again, you see the hatchet (AX) being buried in each answer. A tight theme, not as extensive as some but I found them all well done. On with the rest....
Across:
1. Ignition charge? : ARSON. Not car starting, but illegal fires, very tricky way to begin the day.
6. Yahoo : BOOR. Okay, we are doing a Friday and nothing is easy. Not the company, but the company you do not want to keep.
10. Set-designing initials? : RCA. Okay Peter, now we have a hidden reference to TV sets; we may be here a while.
13. Sierra ___ : LEONE. Our GEOGRAPHY lesson. It had to be this or Madre.
14. Bouncer in an empty bar? : ECHO. Another great clue and we just started, not some big out of luck football player, but sound.
15. Canvas : POLL. Our political question for this election year.
16. "Eight Elvises" artist : ANDY WARHOL. Where did he get his titles?
18. Wind among the reeds : OBOE.
21. Attendee : GOER.
22. Maid's aid : DUSTER. Feather?
23. Entertained : HOSTED.
27. Loaded candy : PEZ. We can dispense with any comments to this clue.
28. Run through : USE. Do not worry, I will never run through all the bad puns in my head.
33. Bit of a loaded conversation? : SLUR. Oh my, the man is on fire; you see the speaker is loaded, and is therefore slurring. More visuals.
34. Purse : BAG. He slipped in an actual easy one.
35. Those, in Badajoz : ESOS. Spanish, from a province in Spain. Colorful.
43. Dribbler's protection : BIB. Also good for our friend from 33A.
45. Of the people : LAY. Not of the clergy. Nothing DF here.
46. Shakespearean playground retort? : ART NOT. Amst too! Wonderful twist on an old clue.
47. Infielder's claim : I GOT IT. My father taught us to say that so we would not run into each other, but one day when I was about 7 and the ball was very high and I yelled "I got it, I think I got it." he and my Uncle rolled on the ground.
49. Gumbo ingredient : OKRA.
56. Track assignment : LANE.
57. "Lawrence of Arabia" Oscar nominee : OMAR SHARIF. Wonderful MOVIE. (4:42)
59. Blowups: Abbr. : ENLS. Enlargements.
60. "Check it out, José" : MIRA. More Spanish, I think it means "see."
61. "The Beauty Myth" author Wolf : NAOMI. No comment as she is quite RADICAL.
62. Utter : SAY.
63. H, R or E, e.g. : STAT. istic. Hits Runs Errors, some baseball for our leader.
64. Newark's county : ESSEX. The New jersey version, home to the Devils who staved off elimination in the Stanley Cup finals.
Down:
1. Cookbook words : A LA. Mode or carte?
2. Lease stipulation : RENT. Tricky, but one must pay rent.
3. Fountain order : SODA. So simple it was hard.
4. Stone seen in Mammoth Cave National Park : ONYX. The world's largest cave system in Kentucky. Hey Windhover, how are the babies? Ewe okay?
5. Deepak Chopra follower, perhaps : NEW AGER. WE have recently discussed this speaker, but do you like this answer next to the next clue?
6. Golden Age TV star : BERLE. Uncle MILTIE. (3:58 ) The old comedian who loved to wear dresses but was famous for his morel.
7. Pigment used in cave paintings : OCHER. An old pigment still popular in painting, I think.
8. We're in for it now!" : OH OH. My LINK.
9. Place to find contacts : ROLODEX. Are they still in use?
10. Pfizer cough medicine : ROBITUSSIN. My cough medicine.
11. Imitations : CLONES. But I buy the CVS knock off.
12. Cheerful, in Chihuahua : ALEGRE. More Spanish but do not say she is a "una mujer de vida alegre."
15. Boston ___ : POPS. How many of you recall the conductor from a few months ago?
17. Digs, so to speak : ABODE.
20. "The Sicilian" author : PUZO. Mario of Godfather fame.
23. Lord Nelson's ___ Victory : HMS. His SHIP.
24. Olive with hardly any fat : OYL. Popeye's eye candy.
25. With unbending will : STUBBORNLY.
26. Road sign shortening : THRU. Not the road, the word.
27. When doubled, a Polynesian capital : PAGO. Capital of American Samoa, pronounced Pongo Pongo.
30. Bidding site : EBAY.
31. Bando of the '60s-'70s Athletics : SAL. Third baseman.
32. Proximate : NEXT.
36. Beatle lover : ONO. Notice it is not plural; she did not love the band.
37. U.S. Army E-5 : SGT. This SGT? (0:52) How fitting.
39. Move like a dragonfly : FLIT. used to be a pejorative term.
40. Grasps : FATHOMS. Good word for doing puzzles, for all the deep thinkers.
41. Unattractive aspects : WARTS. We all have them.
42. Weaver of myth : ARACHNE. She messed with Athena and ended up as the MOTHER of all arachnids.
43. Swearer's stack : BIBLES.
44. Dewlapped lizard : IGUANA. We had one on the tree by my office this afternoon. The 86 year old neighbor of mine hates them, and wants me to "kill them summanbishes."
48. Nautical ropes : TYES. I never saw this one, and I am glad because I do not know it.
49. "Sir, you are no gentleman" speaker : O'HARA. SCARLETT
50. What "k" may stand for : KARAT. 24k gold.
52. Give out : EMIT.
53. Golfer Jay : HAAS. He won last week end's Champion's tour event. His son Bill won the FedEx Cup.
54. Winged god : EROS. More mythology.
55. Stretch : TIME. Well my time this week is almost done.
58. Attach : FIX. A less common definition of attached, unless you get fixated on it.
Answer grid.
Well, I am fixin' to leave for another week. have a great day and week end. I did go back and read the May, 2011 blog and it is amazing how people come and go. As I said then, a word once in a while to let us know you are still out there would be nice. I was pleased to see some quiet corners appear for C.C.s solo debut. Hope you all are well, and maybe we will see you soon.
Lemonade
Notes from C.C.:
1) Here is Part III of Kazie's trip to Spain. I wonder why they thought of building mushrooms above an underground museum.
2) Mystery revealed! Here is the 11 rings dear Irish Miss wears on her 8 fingers. Click on the picture, you'll see a clearer view. The one on her left middle finger fascinates me a lot.
3) Inspired by Irish Miss, Boomer wanted to show his ring collection. See here. The first four are all 300 rings from different years. The fifth one (blue color) is a 299 ring. The next one is another 300 ring. Next to it is an 800 Series ring. The last one is 1987 Twins World Series replica ring. He never wears any ring in daily life, by the way.
