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

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May 5, 2010

Wednesday May 5, 2010 Alan Olschwang

Theme: FILL-er Up - The first word of each two-word common phrase is a synonym of "stuff".

18A. Mule or burro: PACK ANIMAL. I am sure we all have our own favorites.

26A. Where to see racquets: SQUASH COURT. I guess the spelling with the “que” told you it was not TENNIS.

48A. Daring diamond device: SQUEEZE BUNT. wonderful alliteration and one of the exciting plays in baseball, where a runner on third comes charging home, expecting the batter to bunt the ball away from the other side, so the runner can score.

63A. Impromptu jazz performance: JAM SESSION. Being not musical, I never knew there were rules? JzB, help me out here.

A near pangram, or at least I don’t see a V or X anywhere. Three Qs.

Each of the four first words refer to stuffing things into other things. Too esoteric for me, so I cheated.

Lemonade here, and I feel like I have failed my third exam, and I am not happy, but the puzzle was fun with many new variations on clues and fill. So sit back and put on your seat belts, cuz here we go.

Across:

1. Final Four org.: NCAA. A simple beginning, with a reference to the March Madness of College BasketBall.

5. Bedouin homes: TENTS. How many remember my joke about the Jewish Genie and the Arab lost in the desert?

10. Bed board: SLAT. Okay we are motoring now.

14. The enemy: THEM. The classic US against THEM.

15. Saved on supper, one would hope: ATE IN.

16. Hot spot connection: WI FI. All right, it is coming soon.

17. Bondman: SERF. Okay, a little harder word, it is Wednesday after all.

20. Relief provider: BROMO. Did you ever associate BROMO with ART ?

22. Place with trails and trams: SKI RESORT.

23. B&O et al.: RRS. Made famous as a Monopoly RAILROAD .

25. Cousin of –trix: ESS. A Latin feminine ending, for example, EXECUTOR, EXECUTRIX: AVIATOR, AVIATRIX, thus the same as, the –ESS ending, like PROPRIETOR, PROPRIETRESS. And, 59. And the following, in a bibliog.: ET SEQ, literally an abbreviation of the Latin words. And 34D. In other words, to Brutus: ID EST, the famous i.e. and the rest of Latin lesson.

32. "Aladdin" prince: ALI. Avoiding the simple, boxing great clue.

35. Ilsa __, Bergman's "Casablanca" role: LUND. We love knowing complete names; Rick’s was Blaine.

36. Game ender, at times: HORN. I see some hockey fans amongst our group, and they end with a HORN.

37. Put on, as cargo: LADED. Same stem as Bill of Lading.

39. "Ouch!": YOWIE. Okay, we have made it from OWIE to YOWIE.

41. Backstabber: RAT. Am I the only one who always hears James Cagney when the word RAT comes up?

42. A-list: ELITE .

43. Use, as a cot LIE ON .

44. Dart through the air: FLIT. Does anyone remember the FLIT GUN ?

46. Island rings: LEIS. And, 52. Arthur Godfrey played it: UKE , for our missing Hawaiian group; hope all is well.

47. Financial statement abbr.: YTD. Year to date.

51. "Turandot" slave girl: LIU. rejecting the easy LUCY clue, we have a reference to PUCCINI’s final Opera . I never saw the clue until I was done, but it is one for the memory banks.

53. Earlier today, say: A WHILE AGO. Confusing, a short while?

65. South African Peace Nobelist: TUTU Desmond.

66. "Rent-__": Reynolds/Minnelli film: A COP. Very forgettable movie, interesting Song.

67. Parishioner's pledge: TITHE. 10% of what you make.

68. Poet Pound: EZRA.

69. Katharine of "The Graduate" ROSS. Was such a pretty girl, who also was so wonderful in Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid , hard to believe she is 70.

70. Flippant: SASSY. Becoming a crossword staple.

71. Bassoon, e.g.: REED.

Yay we made it to the

Downs:

1. Airline investigative org.: NTSB. National Transportation Safety Board.

2. "Moonstruck" Oscar winner: CHER.

3. Sleek, for short: AERO. Such as AERODYNAMIC.

4. Feature of a new car: AM FM RADIO. Well, he did not say what kind of car.

5. Beer source: TAP. loved the misdirection here, as we all know my beer comes from my brew meister boys.

6. Flight data, briefly: ETAS.

7. Post-Thanksgiving soup starter: NECK. Eww.

8. "Kon-__": TIKI. Thor Heyerdahl will always be in my memory bank.

9. Trapper: SNARER. Well they can’t all be gold.

10. Deli platter cheese: SWISS. I know, there are lot of holes in that answer.

11. One might pick you up at an airport: Well after I gave up on fitting in, ATTRACTIVE KRISHNA CHICK, It hit me, LIMO .

12. Way off: AFAR.

13. Lean: TILT. Of course I was thinking of Jack Sprat from the other day.

19. Get cozy: back to my Krishna, or maybe, NESTLE .

21. RN workplaces: ORS. Operating Rooms.

24. Reaction to a library volume? : SHH. Another nice trick.

26. With cunning: SLYLY

27. Ring used in a horseshoe like game: Who did not love playing with a QUOIT ?

28. Single: UNWED. Very sexist.

29. Greek vacation isle: CORFU. There is both an Island and a city named CORFU in Greece.

30. Papal vestment: ORALE. Now this was impossible, I had to work to find this link, but it was surrounded by easy fill, so.

31. Set free: UNTIE.

32. "Farewell, mon ami": ADIEU. And, 61. French 101 verb: ETRE. To be, ah well the end of today’s French lesson.

33. Grant entrance to: LET IN.

38. Completely recovered: ALL BETTER. The owie, yowie healed.

40. Store, as fodder: ENSILED. Fancy way to say put in a silo.

45. Shih __: Tibetan dog: TZU. Aww, CUTE .

49. Pursuits: QUESTS

50. Struggle to make, with "out": EKE.

51. Struggles with sibilants: LISPS. Making a come back.

53. When it's __: answer to an old riddle about a door: A JAR.

54. City SSW of Dallas: WACO. Home of BAYLOR University.

55. Managed care gps.: HMOs

56. __ Minor: ASIA

57. Skedaddles: GITS. Only someone who says GITS would skedaddle, I guess.

58. July 4th sounds: OOHS

60. Financial advisor Orman: SUZE

62. One of a four in a nursery: : QUAD. Well if you can’t have 8 at once, have at least four.

64. Marshal at Waterloo: NEY. NEY was one of 18 Marshals appointed by Napoleon, his name was Michel Ney, and he was one of the main players at the Battle of Waterloo if you have interest in military history and strategy, it is worth reading.

Answer grid.

Lemonade

May 4, 2010

Tuesday, May 4, 2010 Victor Barocas

Theme: Y - Each theme answer contains a contiguous pair of letter Y's.

20A. Roger Clemens has won it seven times: CY YOUNG AWARD. The honor given annually in baseball to the best pitcher.

27A. Tammy Wynette classic: "STAND BY YOUR MAN". Country music classic.

46A. 1618-'48 conflict: THIRTY YEARS' WAR. The war was fought primarily (though not exclusively) in what is now Germany and at various points involved most of the countries of Europe. From Wikipedia.

53A. Sunny color: CANARY YELLOW. The bird. From an Egg.

58D. There are contiguous pairs of them in 20-, 27-, 46- and 53-Across: WYEs.

Argyle here, with the "whys' but no "wherefores". If you care to construct a railroad wye, here is a layout.

Across:

1A. Common URL ender: ORG. Argh! I had to back out .COM the first thing.

4A. Make chocolate milk, e.g.: STIR.

8A. Wisdom teeth, e.g.: MOLARS.

14A. For each: PER.

15A. Volkswagen subsidiary: AUDI. German automobiles. And 4D. Ion and Vue, in the auto industry: SATURNS. Formerly GM automobiles.

16A. Trapped by routine: IN A RUT.

17A. With 50-Across, South American shocker: ELECTRIC. 50A. See 17-Across: EEL.

19A. Pet's home away from home: KENNEL. If you have a pet 26D. Rattler, for one: SNAKE, do they stay at kennels?

22A. Opposite of post-: PRE-.

23A. Fuss: ADO.

24A. Contingencies: IFS. "And if "ifs" and "ands"
Were pots and pans,
There'd be no work for tinkers!"

32A. Corp. bigwig: CEO.

33A. Confident: SURE.

34A. Cuttlefish pigment: SEPIA. One strange looking dude.

35A. Tear to shreds: REND.

37A. First commercial carrier to use the Boeing 747: PAN AM. A big, big plane.

40A. Well-done, as toast: DARK.

41A. On the ocean: AT SEA.

43A. The Berenstain Bears live in one: TREE. The popularity of the books subsequently spawned numerous child-friendly television shows and computer games. Wikipedia article.

45A. Actor Marvin: LEE. He was such a versatile actor.

51A. __ kwon do: TAE. Korean martial art

52A. 1 or 66, e.g.: Abbr.: RTE. Routes.

59A. Steal, as cargo: HIJACK.

62A. Ghost story setting: CEMETERY.

63A. Criticize harshly: SCATHE. And if you were the recipient, then you 27D. Get really hot: SEETHE.

64A. "Up and __!": AT 'EM. "At 'em boys, Give 'er the gun!" (The Army Air Corps song)

65A. Dogfight winner, perhaps: ACE. Nice tie-in with 64A.

66A. Tightened (up): TENSED.

67A. Confessional revelations: SINS.

68A. Ballet step: PAS. Pas is a simple step in any direction.

Down:

1D. Cartel that added Angola in 2007: OPEC. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

2D. Count (on): RELY.

3D. Earl known for tea: GREY.

5D. Appeared: TURNED UP.

6D. Hippie's "Understood": "I DIG!".

7D. Costa __: RICA.

8D. Operetta with Nanki-Poo and Yum-Yum, with "The": "MIKADO". Don't forget Ko-Ko.

9D. Burdensome: ONEROUS.

10D. Finish a flight: LAND.

11D. Prince Valiant's son: ARN. We haven't had this minor comic strip character in awhile.

12D. Regret: RUE.

13D. Letters on a Cardinal's cap: STL. The St. Louis Cardinals (baseball)

18D. Nightclub in a Manilow song: COPA. Long version of the song.

21D. Manner: WAY.

24D. Savanna grazer: IMPALA. Deer-like animals in Africa.

25D. Snow White, vis-à-vis the queen: FAIRER.

28D. Throat tissue: TONSIL.

29D. Lingerie support item: BRA.

30D. "Fiddler on the Roof" matchmaker: YENTE.

31D. Wine choice: RED.

32D. Slatted box: CRATE.

36D. Berlin article: DER.

38D. Altar in the sky: ARA. In the Southern hemisphere.

39D. Little John was one of them: MERRY MEN. With Robin Hood in the Sherwood forest.

42D. Embassy diplomat: ATTACHÉ.

44D. Regards highly: ESTEEMS.

47D. Pulled hard: YANKED.

48D. Vote in favor: YEA.

49D. Whip mark: WELT.

53D. Musical based on Eliot poems: "CATS".

54D. Some TVs: RCAs.

55D. Himalayan legend: YETI.

56D. Quantum event?: LEAP.

57D. Shamu, for one: ORCA.

59D. FDR's last VP: HST.

60D. Rocks for a Black Russian: ICE. A cocktail of vodka and coffee liqueur (usually three parts vodka to two parts coffee liqueur, per the Kahlúa bottle's label) served over ice in a rock glass.

61D. Yr. starter: JAN..

Answer grid.

Argyle