Theme: Gangster's Gotchas: Four tools in the grab-bag of crime-fighting.
20A. Shot from the side: PROFILE PICTURE. I looked for a picture of Barbra Streisand to illustrate the point, but instead found this rather neat example:
34A. End of Ali's memorable boast: STING LIKE A BEE. Not Ali MacGraw's "Love means never having to sting like a bee"? - no, wait.
42A. Diner’s cell app: TIP CALCULATOR. Please tell me no-one uses this app. I once had lunch with a business associate who got a tip card out of his wallet to calculate the tip on a $99 check.
56A. Makeshift radio antenna: WIRE COAT-HANGER. Almost every car in the UK had one of these when I was growing up. The "disaffected youth" had a habit of breaking off the factory-installed telescopic ones. People got creative with them:
and the unifier:
71A. Agts. who might use the starts of 20-, 34-, 42- and 56-Across: G-MEN. George "Machine Gun" Kelly's nemeses according to the official history of the F.B.I.
Hi everyone! Steve here with Wednesday's offering from Amy Johnson. I liked the theme and I found some fresh cluing and fill. A couple of long downs too, so a lot to like. I think I had just one grumble or gripe and that was it. Let's see what else we've got.
Across:
1. Beavers’ projects: DAMS
5. Eat on the run, as a sandwich: GRAB
9. Dainty drinks: SIPS
13. Thick-furred dog: SPITZ. This one is called Boov:
15. Opera that premiered in Cairo in 1871: AIDA
16. Make ribbing with needles: KNIT. I tried to learn to knit once to make a beanie to ski in. After six months I gave up and bought one.
17. Ski lodge mugful: COCOA. Not my first thought here - Glühwein, Vin chaud, Mulled wine, Hot Toddy. After a day out there I need warming up with something stronger than cocoa!
18. Febreze target: ODOR
19. Wine bucket, e.g.: ICER
23. Bygone full-size Ford: LTD. Pronounced "El-Tee-Dee" and still going strong in some places:
24. Federal air marshals’ org.: T.S.A. I'm very familiar with the Transportation Safety Administration who have limited the size and quantity of items which may be carried through the security checkpoint. For further information, I can contact my carrier or the nearest T.S.A official. Ya think I go through airports much?
25. __ Nashville: country music label: MCA
26. Cosmetics mogul Mary Kay: ASH. I had no idea this was her full name.
29. Physics particles: IONS
32. Celeb with all the answers: TREBEK. I read today that Alex will probably not sign a new "Jeopardy" host contract when his current one expires next year, and Matt Lauer, Anderson Cooper and Dan Patrick are all being mentioned as possible replacements.
37. Green Hornet’s driver: KATO
38. Habit wearer: NUN
39. Sack lead-in: KNAP
47. Like cheerleaders: RAH-RAH
49. __ majesty: high treason: LESE. I'd seen this phrase before but I don't think I knew the definition. Apparently from the Latin and translated as "Injured Majesty". Nice to know!
50. Scheming: SLY. I like that a sly plan could be a scheming scheme.
51. Legal ending: -ESE
52. Lamb’s pop: RAM
54. Billy’s bleat: MAA. Of course, I can always tell if it's a goat or a sheep behind me. Sheep go BAA.
62. Valentine’s Day deity: AMOR. Now this one I have a little problem with. I'd call the deity the god or goddess of love, not the love itself. Cupid or Venus would be the dio or dea dell'amore? What think ye?
63. “Modelland” author Banks: TYRA
64. Scrabble’s blank pair: TILES. Not my Scrabble Blank Stare when I'm looking at a rack of ZXTKQDJ
66. Respond to hilarity: ROAR
67. “A likely story”: I BET
68. Bridge bid, briefly: ONE NO. Slight misstep here when I filled in ONE NT for those No Trumps.
69. Netflix rentals: DVDs These will be joining VHS tapes as "Bygone Rentals" before very long when we're all beaming digital movies directly into our brains, or at least into our Google Glasses.
70. So-so grades: CEEs It's relative. I was delighted when I got my first C in math when I'd been mired in the D-territory for so long I despaired I'd ever get out.
Down:
1. Gallantry-in-combat mil. award: D.S.C. The Distinguished Service Cross.
2. Per: A POP. I like this!
3. Very small: Pref.: MICR. Hmmm. Not convinced. I've been trying to think of something very small where the prefix wasn't actually MICRO and I've drawn a blank.
4. Island seating: STOOL. Kitchen island aha! I was wondering why stools were peculiar to maritime islands.
5. Brit’s joint: GAOL. Oscar Wilde wrote a fine poem "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" when he was incarcerated there. The nature of the conviction against him forced the publication of the work under the pseudonym "C.3.3" which stood for Cell block C, Landing 3, Cell 3.
6. Hitchhiker’s hope: RIDE
7. Get a pound pooch, say: ADOPT
8. Coffeehouse specialist: BARISTA. A few years ago we'd all have been scratching our heads "wha'?". Now it goes straight in.
9. Satirical miniature: SKIT
10. Officeholders: INCUMBENTS. I was on the filing cabinets or paper trays track for a while.
11. Fillmore’s successor: PIERCE. Franklin following Fillmore; POTUS numbers 13 and 14 respectively.
12. Bolt in the buff: STREAK. Fun clue.
14. Full-figured: ZAFTIG. More learning for me today. I must have seen the word at some time because I did recognize it, but I sure had some non-PC ideas when I had -A--IG. "DAM BIG" was the least offensive.
21. Superstar search show, to fans: IDOL. Not an American Idol fan, I don't think I've ever seen an episode in it's entirety.
22. Atkins no-no: CARB. Funny how some eating plans work for some and not for others. Probably 50% of my diet are carbohydrates.
26. Pose: ASK
27. RR stop: STA
28. “Get lost”: HIT THE ROAD. I think only people called Jack can be told to hit the road.
30. Simone of jazz: NINA. And a perfect excuse to hear the wonderful voice of the lovely Nina Simone
31. Hard head?: SKULL
33. “__ mouse!” EEK! A I know some purists might not like this partial, but I did for some reason.
35. Bleak film genre: NOIR.
36. Suffix with differ or defer: ENCE
40. Pioneering ISP: AOL.
41. Meddle: PRY
43. Jardin du Luxembourg, par exemple: PARC. A big park in Paris. My favorite is the Parc des Princes, the national soccer and rugby stadium. The landscaping is a little different.
44. Utterly confused: CHAOTIC
45. West Point inits.: U.S.M.A. The United States Military Academy. Looks like a nice, tranquil place to complete your Bachelor's degree and I'm sure the food is good.
46. Primitive shelter: LEAN-TO
47. Wanted poster offer: REWARD
48. “Foundation” author: ASIMOV. I had the "S" and the "V" and I'd struggle to think of any other author that would fit
53. “It could happen”: MAYBE
55. Gerontologist’s concern: AGING
57. Gets the wrong total, say: ERR. And the erring never seems to be in your favor when it happens.
58. Branch locale: TREE
59. Small business owner’s figurative array: HATS. Is there a theoretical maximum to the number of hats one can wear?
60. Ne or Na: ELEM. The elements Neon and Sodium. New game - best word you can make with two elements and a conjunction? Mine's PANDAS for phosporus AND arsenic
61. Artist Magritte: RENE
65. George W., to George H.W.: SON. Four presidents in today's puzzle.
I discovered the phrase "Post Turtle" last week and I'm still laughing about it. I'll leave it at that in case you think I'm implying that one of our 11D or 65D gentlemen prompted me to mention it. See you next time!
Steve
Notes from C.C.:
1) Happy Birthday to dear Spitzboov (Al), who served in the Navy in the late 50s. He also served in the Navy Reserve for 21 years. When he retired at age 60, Al was a Commander. Now you know his love for the Navy! Al made it possible that Boomer and I have the best flag in the neighborhood.
 |
| Spitzboov & his lovely wife Betty, US Coast Guard Academy, New London, CT, August 2012 |
2) Argyle commented "Oh-oh, one of those words" on yesterday's entry AREEL (54A. Spinning dizzily). I received this email from Don in California. He said:
"I do the LA puzzle every weekday (too "crazy-hard" on the weekend!).
I'm a casual reader of your blog who enjoys your daily write-ups and I
don't want to post anything. I was wondering what you think of, or how
you deal with, puzzles that contain "words" that don't appear to be real
words like "AREEL" and are not found in the dictionary. Isn't there
some sort of rule that they need to be in the dictionary? It's bad
enough with all of the "sayings" that appear constantly like "NODUH".
I did not find AREEL in my Webster's College dictionary, or any online dictionary. But I remember once complaining about ALOP, then someone found ALOP in a dictionary. I'd like to hear your thoughts on Don's email. What words/abbrs do you hate to see in a crossword grid?
