google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner

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Mar 13, 2016

Sunday March 13, 2016, Don Gagliardo and C.C. Burnikel

TITLE: PLUGGED NICKEL

Some of us with a few miles on our odometers, can remember this 50's novelty song by Teresa Brewer whose first line was, "Put another NIckel in, In the NIckelodeon". 




Well our lovely den mother C.C. and her frequent puzzling partner Don (Hard G) Gagliardo did not insert nickels but rather dropped in the chemical symbol for the element nickel - NI - into some common phrases to make some clever crossword fills. They were having so much fun, they "coined" ten theme entries. C.C. told me their original title was TENNIS ANYONE? which  I absolutely did not get until she explained it to me. If you don't get it, I've explained it at the bottom of the write-up.

Theme fills (without and then Plugging In That NI)


23. Flier with a magical rod? : DIVINING BIRD  - A fowl plummeting toward its next meal OR a feathered friend wielding this magic DIVINING rod to find water, minerals or whatever...




25. Signal that nails are dry? : MANI BELL - The colloquial name for Bell Telephone pre-divestiture OR a time piece with an alarm to let you know your polish is dried




35. Sweet tooth? : SUGAR CANINE - The tall, green plant from which much sugar is derived or this. Yeah, I know the CANINES are further back but work with me here.




41. Nocturnal critter enjoying a meal? : DINING BAT - Archie's pet name for Edith Bunker OR 




56. Rejection of a parcel? : PACKAGE DENIAL - The whole kit and caboodle OR Jerry saying "I don't want it!" (Splynter's nightmare)




80. Part of the ad that sells the product? : FINISHING HOOK - A barb to catch a lenten meal OR how to catch a customer




94. Ace garage door mechanic? : GENIE WHIZ - A wistful remark OR the guy you'll need to fix one of these. He was at our house on Wednesday.




97. Ralph Lauren's "Celebrate Radio" clothing line? : MARCONI POLO - The Italian who spent years in the court of Kublai Kahn (but did NOT bring back spaghetti) OR the inventor of radio as a couturière





114. Superhero who doesn't do well in a crisis? : PANIC MAN - A early popular video game OR Superman who just wasn't up to it that day




116. Carrier pigeon's daily delivery? : NEWS CANISTER - A radio or TV reader of daily events OR the container attached to a homing pigeon to carry messages during WWI in this case




Now, filling my NIche as a blogger, I present my NIckel and Dime musings


Across     

    
1. Compares poorly : PALES

6. Unites : MERGES - How we do Christmas card envelopes




12. Scoundrel : CAD


15. Terminus of all roads? : ROME - Yes all their wonderful roads did lead there at one time




19. Slip past : ELUDE


20. Lizard with a dewlap : IGUANA - Not an attractive feature




21. Coleridge wrote one on dejection : ODE


22. Scrape, in totspeak : OWIE

27. "We gotta go" : IT'S TIME 


28. Work in a park, perhaps : STATUE - Work of art


30. Fight sites : ARENAS


31. Couple in a boat : OARS - Sometimes I don't have both of mine in the water


33. Venice glider : GONDOLA

46. Sporty auto roofs : T-TOPS


47. Cut with a beam : LASE -  Would you really want to LASE your eyes as cheaply as possible?




48. First name in fashion : COCO - Ms. Chanel


49. Word accompanying finger-shaking : NO NO


50. San __: jet set resort : REMO - In the map above, it appears that one of those roads that led to Rome came from this far NW Italy town 30 miles from Nice, France


51. Many an earring : CLIP ON


53. A grand's ten : C-SPOTS - It takes ten of these C-NOTES to made a 
grand - $1,000




55. "__ you serious?" : ARE  - A variation


61. Slow start? : ESS - The letter ESS starts both words

62. Founder of what is now Lima : PIZARRO - My first Juan had two Z's


64. Drag racing gp. : NHRA - Should I write out National Hot Rod Association? Nah!


65. "My bad!" : I'M SORRY - Popularized in '95 move Clueless


67. Showed pain : MOANED 


69. "__ I done?" : WHAT'VE


70. Eatery serving filled fare : TACO BAR - Let me at it!




72. First park with a Home Run Apple : SHEA - Home of the Mets from 1964 - 2008


75. Potpourri : GRAB BAG


79. Hockey great : ORR

83. 67.5 deg. : ENE - Here 'ya go




84. DVD player error message : NO DISC


86. Call before a snap : HUT 
ONE - Start of a QB's cadence but usually shared with the center




87. Sharp turns : ZAGS

88. All square : EVEN - Tied up


89. __ the crack of dawn : UP AT


91. Time to give up? : LENT - 40 days that start on Ash Wednesday 


93. Hamlet and Victor Borge : DANES - Victor would be bigger laughs at a party!

99. Where Puccini's "Turandot" premiered : LA SCALA - Turandot contains the fabulous aria Nessun Dorma


101. Salon, say : E-MAG


102. Patio door : SLIDER


106. In the thick of : AMIDST


109. Game with melding : CANASTA

118. Airbrush target : ACNE - Before and after airbrushing. SHAZAM!




119. Explosive first used as a yellow dye : TNT


120. Subside : DIE OUT


121. Scottish feudal lord : THANE - Macbeth was the THANE of Glamis


122. Wicked one's lack? : REST


123. Garden chopper : HOE


124. Controversial blasts : A-TESTS - America's first A Bomb TEST was in central New Mexico  three weeks before Fat Man was dropped on Hiroshima (see 74 Down)


125. Gossip queen : YENTA
 


Down
 
1. Digital indulgence : PEDI - Maybe you'll need a PEDI BELL like 25 Across 


2. Came down : ALIT


3. Ultra Leakguards brand : LUVS - Our girls had cotton diapers


4. Polish for publication : EDIT - Not Polish as in the country but as in polish - make better


5. Fourth-year group : SENIORS - SENIORitis is epidemic this time of year in High Schools


6. __ water : MINERAL


7. Metaphorical facial embarrassment : EGG - Sling one and you might get one back




8. Coaxes from a lamp, with "out" : RUBS - Coaxing out the Genie that doesn't make garage door openers 


9. Canter or trot : GAIT


10. Really tick off : ENRAGE


11. "__ say ... " : SAD TO - "Well I'm SAD TO say, I'm on my way, won't be back for many a day"


12. Chuckle-inducing : COMEDIC - Some good COMEDIC material makes us uncomfortable 


13. Oral health org. : ADA


14. Alaska Range highlight : DENALI - Pres. Obama moved to change the name back to this rather than Mt. McKinley. Works for me.


15. Loungewear item : ROBE - My summer ROBE just came upstairs this week


16. Wilson of "Marley & Me" : OWEN - Not on my radar




17. Leon Uris' "__ 18" : MILA - Title comes from the address of the Jewish Resistance in Warsaw 
ulica MiÅ‚a 18 (18 Mila Street, in English) 

18. Elongated fish : EELS


24. Desktop since 1998 : IMAC - Our great iMAC experience is not shared by all here


26. Persian Gulf land : IRAN - I met a woman who identified herself as Persian (ethnicity) not IRANIAN (nationality), adding that she preferred to separate herself from the politics of the country.


29. Come __: lose one's composure : UNDONE - She's Come UNDONE - The Guess Who


32. Vending machine item : SNACK


34. Tokyo-born artist : ONO


35. Spaghetti __ : STRAP  - These spaghetti-STRAPPED bib overalls are not intended for farm chores




36. Gestation sites : UTERI


37. Addams family patriarch : GOMEZ


38. Mil. address : APO - Army Post Office




39. Key, e.g. : ISLAND


40. Stable negative? : NEIGH


42. Econ. measure : GNP - Gross National (State) Product equivalents in 2012




43. Anti at the ballpark : BOOER - Also a boor


44. Full of nervous energy : ANTSY - Example A - Teaching a 2nd grade art class


45. Deep-six : TOSS - I'll bet you know the huge movie where a woman decided to DEEP-SIX this diamond 




48. Sonata finale : CODA


52. According to : PER


53. Leader who gave up cigar-smoking in 1985 : CASTRO


54. Polish relative : SLOVAK


56. Checks for errors : PROOFS - I PROOF my blogs to check for errors, but the best laid plans of men and mice...


57. Mideast language : ARABIC


58. Late-night show since 2010 : CONAN


59. Biomedical research agcy. : NIH-  National Institute of Health 


60. Insect stage after pupa : IMAGO - The end product of the process



63. Theater chain initials : AMC


66. Johnny __ : REB - His side got second


68. Pa. airport north of PIT : ERI(E)


69. Ring Cycle composer : WAGNER - Hitler's iPod would have had lots of Richard's work


70. Treasure stash : TROVE


71. "As You Like It" forest : ARDEN - From the River Avon to the River Tame


72. Close : SHUT


73. Top 10 song : HIT


74. __ Gay : ENOLA - Delivery vehicle for device mentioned in 126 Across


76. Bingo cousin : BEANO - A predecessor where I'll bet you know what was used to mark the cells 




77. Word from the Latin for "messenger" : ANGEL


78. Painter's undercoat : GESSO - Applying and sanding Golden Brand GESSO




79. Universal donor's type, briefly : O-NEG -  As you can see, O-Negative blood can be given 
to any other type and AB+ only to other AB+'s


81. Gomer Pyle exclamation : SHAZAM


82. Thus : HENCE


85. Pasta suffix : INI


87. Heat up quickly : ZAP


89. Hesitant sounds : UH'S 


90. Hot and spicy : PICANTE


92. Alley lurkers : TOMCATS


93. It's good to lose with it : DIGNITY - or...




95. Juice: Abbr. : ELEC


96. Geniality : WARMTH 


97. Reached the big time : MADE IT - Like George and Weezie 


98. Chicken vindaloo go-with : NAAN

100. Singer Ronstadt : LINDA 


102. Practice for a bout : SPAR - World's worst job? SPARRING with Mike Tyson.




103. Bra fabric : LACE


104. Holiday lodgings? : INNS


105. South Beach, for one : DIET


107. __'Pea : SWEE - Swee' Pea was left on Popeye's doorstep


108. General __ chicken : TSO'S 


110. 1975 Wimbledon champ : ASHE - He won, lost and lived with DIGNITY!


111. Asian country suffix : STAN - There's a few




112. Lawn party rental : TENT


113. Interior designer's statistic : AREA


115. "Is that __?" : A NO - He's good at it!




117. "Stop filming!" : CUT - Or Stop 
Blogging! 


C.C.'s original title of TENNIS ANYONE means TEN NI'S ANYONE as in ten insertions of NI. Duh, Gary!


Well, that's my NIckel's worth. Now, how about your two cents? 

GRID