Friday, May 25, 2018, Winston Emmons

Title: Anagrams bug me!

So John Lampkin, my favorite entomologist, what do you think? Hope to see you soon. We have what I believe is the second LAT for Winston Emmons who debuted on Agnes' birthday last month. We have a very consistent insect anagram theme, with what was for me,  an unnecessary and weak reveal. This was an odd solve for me, as it is part of an ongoing déjà vu. I feel like I wrote this blog before. Oh well, as is the recent trend, a Friday without any long words other than the themers with SOMEDAY, TAVERNA, CONSISTS, and PACIFIER as the added features.  There is a lot of humor in the theme phrases and impressive skill in picking the ones that work that are both real anagrams and insects.
So here we go...

20A. Competition among insects?: GAME OF HORNETS (13). Game of THRONES.

29A. Rule by generations of insects?: GNAT DYNASTY (11). TANG Dynasty.

47A. Tiny but impressive insect?: HECK OF A MITE (11). Heck of a TIME.

57A. Deceptiveness of insects?: FLEAS PRETENSE (13). FALSE Pretense. 

And the little reveal, 

56D. Ones that have infested four puzzle answers: PESTS.

Across:

1. Actress Gilbert of "The Big Bang Theory": SARA. More famous from Roseanne, where she first worked with Johnny Galecki. They DATED?

5. "Lucky Jim" author: AMIS. The first novel of KINGSLEY.

9. "Be silent," in scores: TACET. Musical scores (as a direction) indicating that a voice or instrument is silent.

14. Stagecraft aid: PROP. Clecho- 65A. Stagecraft arrangements: SETS.

15. Email category: SENT.

16. House: ABODE.

17. App opener: ICON. Click on the icon.

18. Director Preminger: OTTO. This Austrian born DIRECTOR and actor was a major influence on Hollywood and film noir.  He was a big deal when I was young.

19. 66-Across, e.g.: VENUE.

23. 2000 NBA MVP: O'NEAL. If you did not know or have forgotten, look at the statistics for SHAQ in the 2000 playoffs. He is one of the GOAT in basketball. Kobe was averaging 15 points a game.

24. Part of ENT: EAR. Nose and Throat are the rest.

25. Cartesian conclusion: I AM. Cogito ergo sum. I think, therefore I am. This is Dualism, as explained by Rene Descartes.

28. Pit stuff: TAR. Brea.

34. City north of Memphis: CAIRO. Memphis, city, and capital of ancient Egypt and an important center during much of Egyptian history. Memphis is located south of the Nile River delta, on the west bank of the river, and about 15 miles (24 km) south of modern Cairo

35. "The Lord of the Rings" actor: ASTIN. Samwise Gamgee became a fan favorite as played by Astin.

36. Brand once pitched by Garfield, oddly: ALPO. It was for their CAT FOOD so it was not so odd.

39. Fabric-dyeing technique: BATIK. Batik is a "resist" process for making designs on fabric. The artist uses wax to prevent dye from penetrating the cloth, leaving "blank" areas in the dyed fabric. The process, wax resist then dye, can be repeated over and over to create complex multicolored designs. A complicated tie-dye. Various.

42. "¿Cómo __?": ESTA. Hi Lucy, hope you feel all better.

43. Macy's competitor: SEARS. Really?

45. Minneapolis suburb: EDINA. When I started reading this blog, this was common fill. In fact, it appears in a PUZZLE from just over 10 years ago. As you can see the comments and the cast have changed. I think it was how I learned C.C. lived in Minnesota.

50. One on first?: WHO. The complete routine.

53. "__ tu": Verdi aria: ERI. Sung by a 27-year-old. LINK.

54. Fairy queen of folklore: MAB. You may need to READ this article.

55. Bee-related: APIAN.

62. Gathered intelligence: SPIED.

64. Israeli carrier: EL AL.

66. Barclays Center, for one: ARENA.  Clecho 2- 67A. Barclays Center team: NETS.Basketball in Brooklyn.

68. Cherry or pear: TREE.

69. Inclined to ramble: WORDY. Oops, was this here to shut me up? Just don't...

70. Stun, in a way: TASE. me, bro!

71. In __: aligned: SYNC.


Down:

1. Peg in a cask: SPIGOT. My ex-wife hated her name being shortened to Peg.

2. One of two tarot card groups: ARCANA. I am not up on Tarot, having learned fortune telling from my French grandmother using a regular deck of cards.

3. Small-space renter: ROOMER. I was thinking of storage units.

4. Sleep disorder: APNEA.

5. Starting: AS OF. May 25, 2018.

6. "Breaking Bad" contraband: METH.

7. Enthusiastic about: IN TO.

8. Saved: STORED.

9. Greek restaurant: TAVERNA. Greek: ταβέρνα is a small Greek restaurant, similar to a tavern, that serves Greek cuisine. Who does not love tzatziki: yogurt with cucumber and garlic purée, used as a dip?

10. Help badly?: ABET. I think we have seen this before, but it is still cute misdirection.

11. Is made up: CONSISTS. Not fabricated, but fabricated.  Needed an"of."
1. to make by art or skill and labor; construct:
2. to make by assembling parts or sections.
3. to devise or invent (a legend, lie, etc.).
4. to fake; forge (a document, signature, etc.).

12. Vanderbilt domain: EDU. The domain for Vanderbilt University in Tennessee.

13. Where many a drive begins: TEE. Some golf for HG and others.

21. Memorable first name in Olympic gymnastics: OLGA. Ms. Korbut.

22. Vote against: NAY.

26. Arguing: AT IT.

27. Mimic on a perch: MYNA.

30. Pen part: NIB.

31. Coach Parseghian: ARA. He won NCAA football titles with Notre Dame; how long will puzzle solvers remember this man? Lou Holtz is already fading.

32. Tribal symbol: TOTEM.

33. Whaling, say: ASEA.

34. Ireland's largest county: CORK. Didn't we have this recently? See déjà vu.

36. Tennis legend: ASHE. Arthur appears often on Friday.

37. Lascivious look: LEER. In this modern environment, not a good idea.

38. Binky: PACIFIER. My youngest used to keep one in his mouth and one in each hand.

40. Uganda's Amin: IDI. The last King of Scotland is back.

41. Modeling enthusiast's purchase: KIT. A CSO to past participants?

44. Eventually: SOMEDAY.

46. Picked-up: NEAT.

48. Runway safety org.: FAA.  Federal Aviation Administration.

49. Away: ABSENT.

50. Vintage locale: WINERY. Cute clue, not an old location.

51. Hurry: HASTEN. Hasten Jason...

52. "Hold on": ONE SEC. This is one of those phrases which should be banned, it is never just one second.

58. Advance: LEND. Dad, can I get an advance on my allowance?

59. Court bargaining chip: PLEA. I guess the prosecutor uses the offer of a plea as a bargaining chip.

60. "Darn!": RATS.

61. Otherwise: ELSE.

62. Adage: SAW. Most often seen as "old saw."

63. Ace: PRO.

An interesting trek with lots of proper names and some intriguing Friday cluing. I think we will be seeing more of Winston who has been published in the CHE and WSJ. I also can "see'  comments from WE. Thank you, and thank all who read the Corner. Lemonade out.