Friday, December 21, 2012, Jack McInturff

Theme: Get the "H" out of here!

Each of the 5 theme answers has the last word which is a CH word, recast with NO  H, (as in the hint) to create a new and visually entertaining new phrase. Jack is an old pro whose work I have had the pleasure of blogging before, though this had more than its share of little known proper names. I can hear Kazie groaning out there. There also are so many great clues/fill like SBARRO, BOBSLEDS, EAR TO EAR, BELTS IT OUT, I really enjoyed cracking this code. How many other CH words would work?  Well with no further ado....

18A. Jazz-loving surfer? : ONLINE CHAT.(9).  A 50's reference to when all who loved Jazz were hep cats, taken by removing the H from our modern online dialogue.

20A. Fort Knox transport? : BAR CHART.(7) A simple from of graphing becomes a nice picture of a cart loaded with gold bullion, like in this SCENE. (4:31).

39A. Farm job for Perry Mason? : WILD GOOSE CHASE (13) A book about a man who is arrested for running around and goosing all the women on a farm in Kentucky? Erle Stanley Gardner, who was a real judge and defender of the innocent named each of his Perry Mason books : The Case of..." For our crowd, maybe this case.

58A. USDA inspector, at times? : PORK CHOP.(7) My favorite for all the layers, police as pigs, as well picture of the meat inspectors.

60A. Insignificant woodpile? : MINOR CHORD.(9) A cord being a small amount of wood (relatively speaking, and JzB will explain the major vs. minor chords.

And a last minute hint,

62D. Kabuki native, and a hint to five puns in this puzzle : NOH, parsed NO H, but none of you needed the hint, right?


Across:

1. Ease up : ABATE. A nice A word to start.

6. Culture sites : LABS. Oh, that kind of culture.

10. Method for deciding : FLIP. An accepted brief form of flipping a coin, though you will see the sight gag of someone doing a somersault when challenged to "flip for it."

14. Recognition of achievement : MEDAL. Olympics anyone?

15. "The doctor will be ___ ten" : IN AT.

16. Red inside : RARE. What a nice simple visual clue.

17. Most of its strains are harmless : E. COLI. Interesting FACTS.

22. "Dies ___" : IRAE.

23. Zion Church letters : AME. AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL church. LINK.

24. Alien-seeking gp. : SETI. Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, phone home anyone?

26. Stromboli seller : SBARRO. What a great letter progression; who does not think they screwed up seeing SB start a word.

30. Novi Sad citizen : SERB. Immediately followed by SerB. A pretty obscure clue, though the 2nd largest city there. We have a new attorney in the office who is Serbian. Havla Bogu!

32. "Out Her on My Own" musical : FAME. Classic IRENE CARA.(3:28).

34. "Was ___ I saw yesterday...?" : IT YOU. No, I was not there. I was in Paris getting a drink. Or was it in...

35. Nice quencher : EAU. Do you still forget your French water?

37. Racers on a run : BOBSLEDS. Fine clue, as the place where bobsleds race is called a run.

42. Grin scope : EAR TO EAR.Not to be corny, but I think this is a wonderful clue.

43. Negatives : NOS. Yes, again simple.

44. Like clear winter air : CRISP.

45. Old railway operator's hat : KEPI. Also the French foreign legion, Charles DeGaulle..Not,  59D. "All day soft. All day smooth" lotion : KERI.

47. Labels : TAGS.

51. Like many audits : ON SITE. Generally done by your external auditors, but in truth it is hard to audit other than on site.

53. Lavish affection (on) : DOTE. Okay, I am ready.

55. French vineyard : CRU. The TEST is in the morning. Lots of French today.

56. Limited worker : TEMP.

64. Supervisory serf, in Chaucer : REEVE. A nice oldtimey word for the guy who enforces order among the Anglo-Saxons.

65. Last name of three related All-Stars : ALOU. Felipe, Matty and Jesus.

66. Words spoken before the Senate : ET TU. A brutal way to clue this old saw.

67. Burger and fries, say : ORDER. Often said in line, not on line.

68. 100 satang : BAHT. Wow, we get our Southeast Asian money, as this is from Thailand and next door we have 70A. Cambodian cabbage? : RIELS. Takes about 130 to get a Baht.

69. One-time Sinclair rival : ESSO. The old company with the Dinosaur and Exxon before it grew up.

Down:

1. Simple life forms : AMEBAS. Not only are we missing an H or five, but the O is gone!

2. Morphed into : BECAME. Again. good simple clue.

3. Worshiper : ADORER. A good word for this time of year.

4. Soft rock : TALC. Softest on the MOHS.

5. Walt Disney's father : ELIAS. Obscure dear old DAD.

6. "The River Murders" co-star : LIOTTA. Do not know this movie but love this SCENE. (0:17) Warning do not watch if you are squeamish.

7. Gloucester's cape : ANN.

8. Hope-Crosby road movie : BALI.

9. Affects emotionally : STIRS.

10. Noted dream-ending words : FREE AT LAST.  This DREAM.(2:51).

11. Varnish ingredient : LAC. For REAL.

12. It may be rolled over, briefly : IRA. and its counterpart in the acronym world, 61. Pier gp. : ILA. We get these longshoremen often.

13. Fondle : PET. Be careful, girls do NOT like being fondled like you do your puppy.

19. Snack company with a triangular logo : NABISCO. This clue was as sweet as an Oreo.

21. Wildlife protection area : REFUGE.

25. [Yawn] : I'M BORED. Damn, well better get yourselves up because we have more work to do.

27. Deli supply : RYES. breads, and the home of LSD.

28. Pestered without letup : RODE. The teacher rode Johnny all class.

29. Danger conclusion? : OUS. Dangerous.

31. Sings with gusto : BELTS IT OUT. Who better

33. Aurora's Greek counterpart : EOS. It took a while for this answer to dawn on me.

36. Many a parent : ADOPTER. All perps.

38. Legendary bridge expert Garozzo : BENITO. I remembered the great Italian Blue team, but not one of its MEMBERS.

39. Give notice : WARN.

40. Pupil's place : IRIS. Eye love this clue.

41. Tree with yellow ribbons, in song : OAK.

42. "Foucault's Pendulum" author : ECO. Did not know the book, apparently it is for a different audience than I. LINK.

46. Simon and Garfunkel, e.g. : POP DUO. Duo was easy but the POP was slow; is that good?

48. Submit : ACCEDE.

49. Submit shamelessly : GROVEL.

50. Building managers : SUPERS. They used to be superintendents, but they became just plain super.

52. Host : EMCEE. A variation of MC, Master of Ceremonies.

54. Overthrow, often : ERROR. A baseball clue, not a government coup.

57. Plant holders : POTS.

60. Folklore fairy queen : MAB. I love me a Shakespeare reference, thanks Mercutio.

63. Some are inalienable: Abbr. : RTS. OO, they tell you it is an abbr.  Our constitutional rights. 

Okay class, that is it from Professor Jack and I, have a wonderful holiday and do not get stuck in any chimneys, eat too many cookies or drive after drinking. I want you all back here for next week's final 2012 Friday, if the Mayan calendar is wrong.

Lemonade