Friday August 20, 2010 Donna S. Levin

Theme: House Pun - The first word of each common phrase is replaced by a sound-alike type of house. The resulting phrase is then humorously clued.

17A. Faithful caretaker of a religious residence? : MANSE BEST FRIEND. The base phrase is Man's Best Friend. Manse is parson's residence.

26A. Stately home for debate team practice? : MANOR OF SPEECH. Manner of Speech. I'm more familiar with "manner of speaking".

45A. Former European princess's elaborate dwelling? : ESTATE OF GRACE. State of Grace. Princess Grace. The only theme entries with an extra syllable added.

58A. French castle built with misgivings? : CHATEAU OF A DOUBT. Shadow of a Doubt. Sound change is quite pronounced in this one, with different stress. But a great clue.

This puzzle is very close in theme style and grid design to Donna's last "Hat Pun": four theme entries (the first and last are grid-spanners in both puzzles) punning on the first word of each familiar phrase. The clues are more consistent in this one. Consistency is important in cluing this punny type. You either adhere to the old meaning or the transformed meaning. Can't do both. The hat, no hat, no hat, hat in the "Hat Pun" theme clues bothered me.

Donna has gradually filled in the Friday LAT pun void left by Dan Naddor and she is now our Friday Ms. Pun.

I am very fond of the two Down 10s which crossed three theme answers each:

11D. Operating room number? : ANESTHESIA. Number = Stuff that numb you.

28D. Home of the flightless kakapo : NEW ZEALAND. Kakapo looks like an owl. Why are they flightless?

The clue for ANTONYM (20A. Choose to reject, say? ) is just brilliant. The word "choose" is an antonym of "reject".

Across:

1. Dirty : LEWD. "Indecent" Dirty.

5. Fictional Fort Baxter noncom : BILKO. Sergeant Bilko.

10. Bar assistant? : PARA. Paralegal. Attorney's assistant.

14. Like the northern Antilles Islands vis-à-vis the southern ones : ALEE. I don't get this, Spitzboov.

15. Enjoyed home cooking : ATE IN

16. City named for a Tennyson heroine : ENID. In Oklahoma. Named for the character Enid in "Idylls of the King". Unknown trivia to me.

21. Draw : TIE

22. Vancouver-to-Seattle dir. : SSE. Always need crossing help for dir.

23. Defunct Frontier Airlines competitor : TED. Belonged to United.

24. Not quite NC-17 : R-RATED. Rated G, Rated PG, Rated PG -13, Rated R, then Rated NC-17. Got me.

32. Mars, to the Greeks : ARES. The ending S in Greek always suggests of a male. Ares, Zeus, etc.

33. Aglet's locale : LACE. Aglet is the metal tag at the end of a shoe lace. Like the red cirled part.

34. Per person : A HEAD. A new clue spin on common one word AHEAD.

37. Stitch : SEW

38. Spilled, with "out" : BLURTED

40. Dept. in a "Law & Order" spin-off : SVU. I only like the original "Law & Order".

41. Vocaphone : KAZOO. What is "Vocaphone"?

43. Feudal peasant : SERF

44. Like a pinto : PIED. Mottled "pinto" horse, with multicolored patches.

48. Pokes fun at, in a way : ROASTS

50. Anger : IRE

51. It's used at Gallaudet U. : ASL (American Sign Language). I've never heard of Gallaudet University, "a federally chartered university for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing", based in D.C, according to Wikipedia.

52. Umpire's call : LET. The referee in Tennis is called umpire also?

54. Winter spikes : ICICLES

61. Popular bar game : KENO. Originated in China.

62. Hard to move : STOIC. To move emotionally.

63. The duck in "Peter and the Wolf" : OBOE. I am always confused by those characters.

64. "Soldier of Love" singer, 2009 : SADE. Gimme for me, but then I love Sade.

65. Delish : YUMMY

66. White underling : KENT (Clark). Perry White's underling in the "Superman".

Down:

1. Eastern priest : LAMA. Only in Tibet.

2. Pizazz : ELAN

3. Hit the road : WENT

4. FireDome and Fireflite : DESOTOS. Cars. Waiting for Argyle for the links. He knows everything about cars.

5. Short nightie : BABY DOLL. Lovely color.

6. Canoodling couple, maybe : ITEM

7. Liszt's "__ Preludes" : LES. I guessed.

8. "Santa Baby" singer : KITT (Eartha). Hmm, happy fill for Lois and her "Santa Baby"!

9. Lit : ON FIRE

10. Louvre Pyramid architect : PEI (I.M.)

12. Washer cycle : RINSE

13. Put two and two together : ADDED. Somehow I was thinking of the lumber term 2X2.

18. U.S. dept. with a sun on its seal : ENER. See this seal. There's indeed a sun.

19. Go over again : REREAD

25. Bavarian beef? : ACH. Alas, not real beef for the meat lovers. Alliteration.

26. Conceal : MASK

27. Field : AREA

29. Legendary soul seller : FAUST. He sold his soul to the devil.

30. Cliffside litter : SCREE. Like this, the rocky debris.

31. Chemical prefix? : PETRO. Petrochemical. Why question mark?

35. "__ plaisir!" : AVEC. Literally "with pleasure".

36. Buddy : DUDE

38. Hold in, with "up" : BOTTLE

39. Productiveness : EFFICACY. Great entry.

42. CIA's ancestor : OSS. Ennui!

44. Parboil : PRECOOK

46. Equally simple : AS EASY

47. Power network : GRID. Electric power.

48. Sets up the balls : RACKS. Pool. Lois knows how to "set up the balls".

49. Actor Milo : O'SHEA

53. 1984 Nobel Peace Prize winner : TUTU. 1984? That's long time ago.

54. "Correct me __ wrong ..." : IF I'M

55. Auto mechanic's job : LUBE

56. Black, poetically : EBON

57. Re-edit, in a way : STET. "Let it stand", Let the canceled material remain.

59. Ring site : TOE. Quite pretty.

60. Half a tuba sound : OOM. Oom-pah.

Answer grid.

Our Friday blog team photo continues. Here is a recent photo of Al, a database administrator based in Green Bay, WI. Al loves words and etymologies, as you've probably learned from his always knowledgeable comments and Thursday puzzle write-ups. Al is also very well versed in nutrition due to his personal experiences and background in chemistry. He also loves guitar and takes lessons every week.

C.C.

Thursday August 19, 2010 Gene Newman

Theme: Idiom Antonyms - The starting positional prepositions in familiar phrases are flip-flopped and the resulting phrases are humorously reinterpreted and clued with question marked one-word adjectives.

17A. Dishonest?: BELOWBOARD. When you are honest, you are said to be aboveboard in your dealings.

26A. Happy?: UP IN THE MOUTH. Sad = down in the mouth.

42A. Sick?: OUT OF THE PINK. Healthy = in the pink.

56A. Incompetent?: OFF THE BALL. Competent = on the ball.

This theme is similar to neagative (in-/im-/un-/dis-/non-/extra-) words that no longer have a corresponding positive in the language, as in this poem, A Very Descript Man, attributed to J. H. Parker, one day late for bad poetry day:

I am such a dolent man, / I eptly work each day; / My acts are all becilic, / I've just ane things to say. / My nerves are strung, my hair is kempt, / I'm gusting and I'm span:/ I look with dain on everyone / And am a pudent man. / I travel cognito and make A delible impression: / I overcome a slight chalance, / With gruntled self-possesion. / My, dignation would be great / If I should digent be:/ I trust my vagance will bring / An astrous life for me.

Al here, with a fun Thursday. I think I might have gotten this without the theme, but figuring that out sure sped things up. I think this is a first for me, no links today...

Cross:

1. Boot's meal: MESS. Boot camp, I suppose...

5. What houses may be built on: SPEC. Speculation that if you build it, it will sell.

9. Li'l Abner's creator: CAPP. Al Capp, born: Alfred Gerald Caplin.

13. Some finals: ORALS. Final tests for graduate college/university degrees.

15. Machu Picchu's land: PERU. Translates to "old mountain".

16. Jewish youth org.: YMHA. Young Men's Hebrew Association.

19. Baseball Triple Crown component: RBIS. Runs Batted In. Also Home Runs and batting average, three statistics required for batters. Pitchers must lead in wins, strikeouts and Earned Run Average (ERA).

20. Winter sailcraft: ICE BOATS.

21. Locks up: JAILS.

22. Sgts.' superiors: LTS. Sergeants, lieutenants.

23. Galeón booty: ORO. Spanish gold. Galeón is Spanish for galleon.

24. Specialty, informally: THING. It's your/my thing to solve crossword puzzles.

30. Coach in the air?: CLASS. Coach class is the cheapest way to travel by plane, train, etc.

33. Tries to sink, perhaps: RAMS. Battleship collisions, also the part of the ship specifically designed to do such damage.

34. "Now I get it!": OHO.

35. Journalist Clare Boothe __: LUCE. Busy lady for an illegitimate child: Playwright, editor, journalist, ambassador, socialite and US Congresswoman.

36. Teases maliciously: BAITS.

38. MLB All-Star Game day: TUES. Baseball season approximate mid-point, played usually on the second Tuesday of July.

39. ___-de-France: ILE. The most populous region of France, contains most of metropolitan Paris.

40. War ender: PACT. Latin pactum, covenant, contract.

41. Serious borders?: ESSES. The letter "S" is first and last in the word SeriouS. Was anyone fooled?

46. America's Cup entry: YACHT.

47. Bank book no.: INT. Interest.

48. Asian title of respect: SRI. Sanskrit for "beauty", especially of divinities and kings.

51. Illegal pickoff moves, e.g.: BALKS. A few baseball terms in the puzzle... This is when a pitcher makes a move as if to throw, but instead interrupts his motion. If he can make a smooth throwing motion to the base instead, then it isn't a balk and a runner with too far of a lead-off can possibly be tagged out.

53. Out of the box: UNCRATED.

55. Russian city on the Oka: OREL. A geographical answer to confuse you along with the Ural Mountains and the Aral Sea.

58. First name in Old West fiction: ZANE. Grey. Roughly 90 books with 110 movies made from his work.

59. "Go away!": SHOO.

60. Like Serling stories: EERIE. Rod Serling, narrator of the Twilight Zone.

61. Be compliant: OBEY.

62. Get wise with: SASS.

63. U.S. Army decorations: DSCS. Distinguished Service Cross. One step below the Medal of Honor.

Down:

1. Gas brand with a red "o" in its logo: MOBIL.

2. Upright: ERECT.

3. Rep's work: SALES. I guess REP isn't considered an abbrev. in this context...

4. Schulz's Pig-Pen, e.g.: SLOB. Charles Schulz, Peanuts comic. Pig-Pen is the one constantly in a cloud of dust, even when it rains or snows.

5. Exact, to a Brit: SPOT ON.

6. Porridge morsels: PEAS.

7. Goof: ERR.

8. Ruminant's mouthful: CUD. To ruminate is to turn something over in your mind, or as a cow, chew cud.

9. Rostand's long-nosed lover: CYRANO. Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac, who actually existed, however, the play's plotline involving Roxane and Christian is almost entirely fictional — the real Cyrano did not write the Baron's love letters for him

10. Equivocal: AMBIGUOUS.

11. Punxsutawney predictor: PHIL. Groundhog day.

12. Coquette's wink, say: PASS. The word pass has been associated with a fencing move definition, to lunge at, also to make an attempt or try, or to make a "play" for.

14. Eagles' attacks: SWOOPS.

18. Adriatic port: BARI. Italy. Only got it through perp fills...

21. Slim __: snack items: JIMS. So greasy. I suppose they help wash the beer down...

24. One of those things: THAT

25. Bottom lines?: HEMS. Was not thinking sewing here, wanted NETS for the profit sense.

26. Take habitually: USE. Addiction.

27. Like overused crossword clues: TRITE.

28. Biblical pronoun: THEE.

29. Ponderosa heavyweight: HOSS. Dan Blocker was a large man.

30. Adman's award: CLIO. Named for the Greek muse of history, Clio is known as The Proclaimer; the name is from a root word that means "recount" (narrate) or "make famous".

31. Beaut: LULU. Bret Favre, for example.

32. Welder's need: ACETYLENE.

36. British spa town: BATH. Aptly named.

37. Sieben follower: ACHT. Seven, eight in German.

38. Sound made with a head shake: TSK. Made along with the shake, as opposed to an actual noise generated by having loose screws or missing marbles.

40. U.S. Army E-3s: PFCS. Privates, First Class. Technically the abbreviation is contained internally either singular or plural with the first word, so it shouldn't really have an "S" at the end, but this rule is broken a lot in everyday use.

41. Early bird special item: ENTREE. Extended early restaurant hours where the price can be cheaper to generate additional business off-peak.

43. "Little Sure Shot": OAKLEY. Annie.

44. Mottled horses: PINTOS. Large patches of white plus any other color.

45. Move furtively: INCH. Little by little.

48. Oscar Night assembly: STARS.

49. Dig find: RELIC. Archaeology.

50. What a slacker does: IDLES. Slack as in lax, limp, unmoving.

51. Oaf: BOZO. Oaf is related to elf, and comes from a changeling; a foolish child left by the fairies. Some dictionaries still give the plural as oaves. Bozo perhaps from Sp. bozal, used in the slave trade and also to mean "one who speaks Spanish poorly."

52. Certain Semite: ARAB. Semite from Shem, one of the three sons of Noah.

53. Area 51 sightings: UFOS. I have it on pretty good authority that this is really much ado about nothing. I'd tell you how I know, but then I'd have to have you taken care of...

54. Reading by a night light, perhaps: ABED. I will be doing this soon, I hope. I think words like these were made up by poets to stretch out the number of syllables.

56. WWII spy org.: OSS. Office of Strategic Services, forerunner of the CIA.

57. Govt. loan insurer: FHA. Federal Housing Administration.

Answer Grid,

Al