Theme: Brian's Brains provide six theme entries today, across and down, in each case the second word is an anagram of the first:
20A. Upscale boutique: POSH SHOP. Here's one, Saks on Fifth Avenue in New York.
33A. Old money that looks new: CRISP SCRIP. Scrip was money issued as wages that could only be spent in the company store. Surprisingly, the practice still partially continues - WalMart in Mexico was sued for paying part of their employee's wages with WalMart vouchers, and Amazon makes some bonus payments in Swagbucks.
40A. Small craft on the deep sea: OCEAN CANOE. I'd call this the least obvious anagram of the six today.
51A. Quarrel of yore: PAST SPAT
11D. Fear of poisonous snakes: ADDER DREAD. I was reading just this morning about trypophobia, the fear of clusters of holes and cracks.If you are not a sufferer, Google "lotus seed pods" to see a common trigger. If you are a trytophobic, you'll know what I'm talking about and you won't want to go looking.
28D. Outstanding prize money: SUPER PURSE
Brian has had a number of themeless Saturday puzzles published here in the LA Times, so a themed puzzle seems to represent something of a diversion for him. I rumbled the theme very quickly, I'd already filled the top-left corner, and SUNHATS, so POSH was already there. The first puzzles I began solving were the cryptic ones in the UK papers which are full of anagrams, so I tend to see them very quickly.
Let's see what the fill looks like.
Across:
1. Many big reds: CABS. I prefer a cab blend, I'm never particularly smitten with a single-varietal wine. One of the most well-regarded Napa "cabs", Screaming Eagle, is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Want a three-pack of the 2015 for the holidays? It'll set you back $10,000.
5. Namely: TO WIT
10. X-ray units: RADS
14. Honolulu happening: LUAU
15. Lacking significance: INANE
16. Music halls of old: ODEA
17. Directive on an env.: ATTN.
18. Play lightly, as a guitar: STRUM
19. Apt. part: BDRM.
22. Holden Caulfield's little sister: PHOEBE
24. Constellation near Scorpius: ARA. The more common (to me) naming of Scorpius is Scorpio, and that led me to believe that ARA was another word for Aries, another Zodiac constellation. It's not, it is "The Altar" in Latin.
25. Bookstore category: POETRY
26. Personal records: BESTS
29. Tire spec: PSI, properly Pound-force per Square Inch.
31. Divest (of): RID
32. Berkeley Breathed's cartoon penguin: OPUS. Opus "retired" in 2008 and was one of my favorites in the Sunday funnies.
37. Bark: YIP
38. Handle: SEE TO. Handling a problem, seeing to it.
39. Purpose: END
43. Big fishhook: GAFF
44. Way to go: Abbr.: RTE.
45. He broke Lou's record for consecutive games played: CAL. The Oriole's shortstop Ripken Jr. broke Gehrig's record shortly after I moved here to the US. To be honest, I wasn't quite sure what all the fuss was about at the time; I know it sounds odd, but I'd never heard of him.
46. Accolades: KUDOS
47. Valedictorian's time to shine: SPEECH
49. Purpose: AIM
50. Liquids: FLUIDS
56. Work to get: EARN
57. In an aloof way: ICILY
59. Twice tri-: HEXA- As an old-school computer programmer, I used to be able to do hexadecimal (base 16) math in my head. Binary too. Then Hewlett-Packard threw octal into the mix and I got myself a calculator.
60. Exec's helper: ASST.
61. "Try someone else": NOT ME
62. Vienna-based oil gp.: O.P.E.C. Why Vienna? A lovely spot, but what's it got to do with exporting Petroleum?
63. "Luke Cage" actor Rossi: THEO. Thank you, crosses.
64. It helps raise dough: YEAST
65. Bridge position: EAST
Down:
1. Applaud: CLAP
2. Mercury or Saturn, but not Mars: AUTO
3. Cricket clubs: BATS
4. Summery headwear: SUNHATS
5. Campbell-Martin of TV's "Dr. Ken": TISHA
6. Aboard: ONTO
7. Lumber defect: WARP
8. Shiba __: Japanese dog: INU. The dogs can produce the "Shiba scream" when provoked or unhappy, or "a very similar sound" when very happy. Sounds confusing as heck.
9. Pace: TEMPO
10. Stiffly awkward: ROBOTIC
12. Churchill Downs event: DERBY
13. Unchanged: SAME
21. Some discount recipients: Abbr.: SRS.
23. For madam: HERS
25. NBA great "__ Pete" Maravich: PISTOL. His college stats were mightily more impressive than his NBA record, good though it was.
26. Limerick lad: BOYO. The Irish use it as an affectionate term for a boy; the Welsh use it differently between adults, jocularly between friends, but it can be a pejorative if an older adult is addressed as "boyo". It's almost always derogatory if a non-Welsh person (especially an Englishman!) uses it to address a Welshman.
27. Herculean: EPIC
29. Say the Word: PREACH
30. School near Albany: SIENA
33. Trig function: Abbr.: CSC. Avoid the temptation to fill COS if you've only got the first "C" in place.
34. "The Raven" writer: POE
35. Facts and figures: INFO. "DATA" was an alternative, but one cross and the dilemma goes away.
36. Some emailed files: PDFS
41. Diminished slowly: ATE INTO
42. Shortage: NEED
43. Private eye: GUMSHOE
46. DIY purchase: KIT
47. Seriously reduce: SLASH
48. Forensic drama set in the Big Apple: CSI NY
49. To date: AS YET
50. Significant achievement: FEAT
51. Pocket bread: PITA
52. Donation to the poor: ALMS. Interesting noun, it's both the singular and plural form, and I've never seen it used with an article. You give "alms", you don't give "the alms".
53. Rap's Salt-N-__: PEPA
54. Hacking tools: AXES
55. Peacemaker's asset: TACT
58. Olympic runner Sebastian: COE. Now Lord Coe, Seb had a long-standing middle-distance battle with fellow Britons Steve Ovett and Steve Cram for supremacy in the 800m and 1500m events.
I think that's about it from me. If you're wondering what to bring for Thanksgiving, a case of the Screaming Eagle would go down very nicely, thank you.
Steve
20A. Upscale boutique: POSH SHOP. Here's one, Saks on Fifth Avenue in New York.
33A. Old money that looks new: CRISP SCRIP. Scrip was money issued as wages that could only be spent in the company store. Surprisingly, the practice still partially continues - WalMart in Mexico was sued for paying part of their employee's wages with WalMart vouchers, and Amazon makes some bonus payments in Swagbucks.
40A. Small craft on the deep sea: OCEAN CANOE. I'd call this the least obvious anagram of the six today.
51A. Quarrel of yore: PAST SPAT
11D. Fear of poisonous snakes: ADDER DREAD. I was reading just this morning about trypophobia, the fear of clusters of holes and cracks.If you are not a sufferer, Google "lotus seed pods" to see a common trigger. If you are a trytophobic, you'll know what I'm talking about and you won't want to go looking.
28D. Outstanding prize money: SUPER PURSE
Brian has had a number of themeless Saturday puzzles published here in the LA Times, so a themed puzzle seems to represent something of a diversion for him. I rumbled the theme very quickly, I'd already filled the top-left corner, and SUNHATS, so POSH was already there. The first puzzles I began solving were the cryptic ones in the UK papers which are full of anagrams, so I tend to see them very quickly.
Let's see what the fill looks like.
Across:
1. Many big reds: CABS. I prefer a cab blend, I'm never particularly smitten with a single-varietal wine. One of the most well-regarded Napa "cabs", Screaming Eagle, is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Want a three-pack of the 2015 for the holidays? It'll set you back $10,000.
5. Namely: TO WIT
10. X-ray units: RADS
14. Honolulu happening: LUAU
15. Lacking significance: INANE
16. Music halls of old: ODEA
17. Directive on an env.: ATTN.
18. Play lightly, as a guitar: STRUM
19. Apt. part: BDRM.
22. Holden Caulfield's little sister: PHOEBE
24. Constellation near Scorpius: ARA. The more common (to me) naming of Scorpius is Scorpio, and that led me to believe that ARA was another word for Aries, another Zodiac constellation. It's not, it is "The Altar" in Latin.
25. Bookstore category: POETRY
26. Personal records: BESTS
29. Tire spec: PSI, properly Pound-force per Square Inch.
31. Divest (of): RID
32. Berkeley Breathed's cartoon penguin: OPUS. Opus "retired" in 2008 and was one of my favorites in the Sunday funnies.
37. Bark: YIP
38. Handle: SEE TO. Handling a problem, seeing to it.
39. Purpose: END
43. Big fishhook: GAFF
44. Way to go: Abbr.: RTE.
45. He broke Lou's record for consecutive games played: CAL. The Oriole's shortstop Ripken Jr. broke Gehrig's record shortly after I moved here to the US. To be honest, I wasn't quite sure what all the fuss was about at the time; I know it sounds odd, but I'd never heard of him.
46. Accolades: KUDOS
47. Valedictorian's time to shine: SPEECH
49. Purpose: AIM
50. Liquids: FLUIDS
56. Work to get: EARN
57. In an aloof way: ICILY
59. Twice tri-: HEXA- As an old-school computer programmer, I used to be able to do hexadecimal (base 16) math in my head. Binary too. Then Hewlett-Packard threw octal into the mix and I got myself a calculator.
60. Exec's helper: ASST.
61. "Try someone else": NOT ME
62. Vienna-based oil gp.: O.P.E.C. Why Vienna? A lovely spot, but what's it got to do with exporting Petroleum?
63. "Luke Cage" actor Rossi: THEO. Thank you, crosses.
64. It helps raise dough: YEAST
65. Bridge position: EAST
Down:
1. Applaud: CLAP
2. Mercury or Saturn, but not Mars: AUTO
3. Cricket clubs: BATS
4. Summery headwear: SUNHATS
5. Campbell-Martin of TV's "Dr. Ken": TISHA
6. Aboard: ONTO
7. Lumber defect: WARP
8. Shiba __: Japanese dog: INU. The dogs can produce the "Shiba scream" when provoked or unhappy, or "a very similar sound" when very happy. Sounds confusing as heck.
9. Pace: TEMPO
10. Stiffly awkward: ROBOTIC
12. Churchill Downs event: DERBY
13. Unchanged: SAME
21. Some discount recipients: Abbr.: SRS.
23. For madam: HERS
25. NBA great "__ Pete" Maravich: PISTOL. His college stats were mightily more impressive than his NBA record, good though it was.
26. Limerick lad: BOYO. The Irish use it as an affectionate term for a boy; the Welsh use it differently between adults, jocularly between friends, but it can be a pejorative if an older adult is addressed as "boyo". It's almost always derogatory if a non-Welsh person (especially an Englishman!) uses it to address a Welshman.
27. Herculean: EPIC
29. Say the Word: PREACH
30. School near Albany: SIENA
33. Trig function: Abbr.: CSC. Avoid the temptation to fill COS if you've only got the first "C" in place.
34. "The Raven" writer: POE
35. Facts and figures: INFO. "DATA" was an alternative, but one cross and the dilemma goes away.
36. Some emailed files: PDFS
41. Diminished slowly: ATE INTO
42. Shortage: NEED
43. Private eye: GUMSHOE
46. DIY purchase: KIT
47. Seriously reduce: SLASH
48. Forensic drama set in the Big Apple: CSI NY
49. To date: AS YET
50. Significant achievement: FEAT
51. Pocket bread: PITA
52. Donation to the poor: ALMS. Interesting noun, it's both the singular and plural form, and I've never seen it used with an article. You give "alms", you don't give "the alms".
53. Rap's Salt-N-__: PEPA
54. Hacking tools: AXES
55. Peacemaker's asset: TACT
58. Olympic runner Sebastian: COE. Now Lord Coe, Seb had a long-standing middle-distance battle with fellow Britons Steve Ovett and Steve Cram for supremacy in the 800m and 1500m events.
I think that's about it from me. If you're wondering what to bring for Thanksgiving, a case of the Screaming Eagle would go down very nicely, thank you.
Steve
