Friday, August 10, 2018, Chuck Deodene

Title: G where is my twin?

Chuck Deodene is back after another absence, bringing my third Friday opportunity to blog his work. Chuck was first published in the NYT back in 1994, and we saw him initially in 2009. This time he takes two-word phrases with the first word ending with  "G" and the second word beginning with a "G." He then excises the G from the second word and clues the result with amusing consequences. The phrases have nothing in common either before or after the removal of the letter.  The tricky part is noticing that there is a "G" missing. Our brains like FILLING IN THE BLANKS. With 5 themers, 55 squares of theme it is impressive to see added fill CHANGEUP, DEVALUED, EMOTICON, RADIO SET, SHINBONE, and TAG ALONG. Off to see the wizard,,,

18A. Passion for quilt filling?: BATTING GLOVE (11). My grandmother and one of my first cousins quilted. I do not know much about it. LINK. I was a pitcher and did not use a batting glove.

24A. Contest among bank customers?: SAVING GRACE (10). In the US, we are not very good at saving money WORLD MAP but we are not the worst. A saving grace is a good quality or feature in a person or thing that prevents them from being completely bad or worthless. Ageing's one saving grace is you worry less about what people think about you.

38A. Segment of a clogging contest?: STOMPING GROUND (13). I have not been to a competition but have seen a performance each year at the TASTE OF TAMARAC and do not know how many rounds in the CONTEST. Do you have a place where you regularly spend time; a favorite haunt?

51A. Airline passenger's arrival malady?: LANDING GEAR (10). There is a real malady known as AIRPLANE EAR, which is not related to the landing gear.

59A. Female observer?: LOOKING GLASS (11).  Interestingly, a looking glass is a mirror which is often the best friend (worst enemy) of a lass. 

Across:

1. Staples buys: PCS.  We begin with Personal Computers.

4. Pooh-pooh, with "at": SCOFF. This may derive from an Icelandic word skaup. "The superstition of science scoffs at the superstition of faith." Short Studies on Great Subjects by James Anthony Froude.

9. Author Stieg Larsson, for one: SWEDE. He died before his famous trilogy became movies LINK.

14. Deduction cry: AHA. The V-8 moment.

15. "While I've got your attention ... ": OH SAY can you see?

16. Big name in seating: EAMES. This COUPLE designed the eponymous lounge chair.

17. Zip on a field: NIL. A very common score in international football mtches.

20. Fall cause: TRIP.

22. Not heard before: NEW. A new clue for old fill.



23. 1945 summit site: YALTA. So much controversy and so much fallout from this CONFERENCE. 33A. "The buck stops here" president: TRUMAN. He took over for the POTSDAM Conference.

27. __ Road Ensemble, group initiated by Yo-Yo Ma: SILK. Yo-Yo Ma conceived Silkroad in 1998 as a reminder that even as rapid globalization resulted in division, it brought extraordinary possibilities for working together. Seeking to understand this dynamic, he began to learn about the historical Silk Road, recognizing in it a model for productive cultural collaboration, for the exchange of ideas and tradition alongside commerce and innovation. A truly global effort. various.

29. Portaged craft: CANOE. Portage or portaging is the practice of carrying watercraft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a portage. wiki.

30. Needing no Rx: OTC. Over The Counter.

32. Stick in a hall: CUE. Pool hall.

36. Baloney: HOOEY.

41. Jokhang Temple city: LHASA. The Jokhang, also known as the Qoikang Monastery, Jokang, Jokhang Temple, Jokhang Monastery and Zuglagkang, is a Buddhist temple in Barkhor Square in Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet.

42. Words spoken with one's hand raised: A TOAST. L'chaim.

43. Corp. bailed out in 2008: AIG. American International Group.

44. Auction set: LOT. Moment of LEARNING.

46. Made hands of: DEALT. Card playing.

49. Swatting target: GNAT.

55. Grass unit: BLADE.

57. Yield from una mina: ORO. A Spanish Gold Mine.

58. Laser-cut, perhaps: ETCH. There is so much I do not KNOW.

62. __ jump: SKI.

63. Unexpressed: INNER. Remember Bradshaw and his inner child?

64. Pulitzer poet Conrad __: AIKEN. Conrad Potter Aiken was born in Savannah, Georgia, on August 5, 1889. When he was a small boy, his father killed his mother and committed suicide himself, a tragedy that had a profound impact on Aiken’s development. He was raised by a great-great-aunt in Massachusetts and graduated from Harvard in 1912, the same period as T. S. Eliot and E. E. Cummings. He won his Pulitzer Prize in 1930, for his Selected Poems.

65. Work hard (for): GUN.

66. Aboveboard: LEGIT.

67. Handle: SEE TO.

68. Ajar, in verse: OPE. I 'ope this does not catch on, even though I like to keep my mind ope'.


Down:

1. Suit part: PANTS.

2. Former French president: CHIRAC. This MAN.

3. DNA sample source: SALIVA. I did the ancestry spit on a stick; results were too vague.

4. Sound with tears: SOB.

5. Pitcher's surprise: CHANGEUP. The changeup is the staple off-speed pitch, usually thrown to look like a fastball but arriving much more slowly to the plate. Its reduced speed coupled with its deceptive delivery is meant to confuse the batter's timing. When I was in high school I was a pitcher, and after my best game - a one-hit shutout - the opposing players came up to me to congratulate me on my amazing changeup. I threw all fastballs, just not as fast as they expected.

6. Kitchen brand: OSTER.

7. Mufti issuance: FATWA. Fatwa, in Islam, is a formal ruling or interpretation on a point of Islamic law given by a qualified legal scholar (known as a mufti). wiki. Rabbis do the same thing in Judaism.

8. "Here's the scoop" letters: FYI. For Your Information.

9. Tokyo-based game company: SEGA.

10. They're thin at budget motels: WALLS.

11. Email adornment: EMOTICON. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ﾉ ಠ_ಠ ¯\(°_o)/¯ ( ﾟдﾟ)

12. Weakened, as currency: DEVALUED.

13. Legal add-on: ESE.

19. Siberian freeze-out?: NYET.

21. Mottled equines: PINTOS. PINTO the HORSE.

25. Routine: NORMAL.

26. Crichton novel set in Africa: CONGO.

28. Longboat in Florida, e.g.: KEY. Such beautiful beaches in this AREA.

31. Singled out: CHOSEN.

34. Mazda two-seater: MIATA. A red one sits in the condo parking lot.

35. Hexapod worker: ANT. Six legs.

37. Cause of a blinking "12:00": OUTAGE. A power outage that is.

38. Tibia: SHINBONE. Best I can do.

39. Emulate a little brother, maybe: TAG ALONG.

40. Ham's creation: RADIO SET. Ham radio is back so soon.

41. Tarry: LAG.

45. Author Robert __ Butler: OLEN. “I'll never stop believing it: Robert Olen Butler is the best living American writer, period.” — Jeff Guinn,  LINK. So many books I have never read..

47. Unhands: LET'S GO.

48. Affix to a corkboard: TACK-UP.

50. Castmate of Doohan and Nimoy: TAKEI.

52. "Cross my heart!": NO LIE.

53. Male on a pond: DRAKE. DUCK!

54. View from Schönburg Castle: RHINE. A really cool PLACE.

56. Gossip: DIRT.

59. Diminutive, diminutively: LIL. Abner?

60. Main delivery: GAS. Directly from the gas main.

61. Cold-sounding product prefix: SNO. Cone?

Well, that was a blast. Sometimes simple is good, and and I enjoyed the solve. August is sliding by and I will see you next Friday if the CDR. Lemonade out.