Friday December 10, 2010 Don Gagliardo

Theme: STOCK OPTIONS (56A. Some employee benefits, and this puzzle's title) - meaning if you take a common phrase from the world of finance with the word “stock” in the phrase and you mix it up a little, you can create a new and humorous phrase, while still preserving the sound. STOCK OPTIONS allow an employee to buy shares in a company at a future date at a reduced price. And of course OPTION means having a choice to replace the word STOCK, with a sound alike: man is that a convoluted explanation to a fun theme. Anyway, please read the note from Don G. at the end.

20A. Shrink for a noted Vulcan?: SPOCK ANALYST. When STOCK ANALYST, someone who puts out reports on companies, becomes a shrink (psychoanalyst) for the Vulcan in "Star Trek", we have…

29A. Reason for a laundry odor?: SOCK ISSUE. STOCK ISSUE, an offering of shares in a company, when faced with stinky feet. I was told, if you scrub between your toes, you will lessen foot odor dramatically, any volunteers?

37A. Neighborhood garage sales?: SCHLOCK MARKET. The STOCK MARKET itself, can become the home for cheap items, from the Yiddish .

45A. Collection for an artist's garment?: SMOCK FUND. STOCK FUND, a mutual fund, where people can get buy an interest in many companies, and we all know painters and sculptors wear smocks to protect their clothes.

Can you think of one for SHOCK?

I just love Don Hard G’s work, and this was a pleasure, though I cannot put my finger any one aspect, as the cluing was creative, but all over the place, with deception, history, some esoteric information and lots of work to finish.

A few related clues like, SCIENCE FICTION: 14A "Rendezvous With __": Hugo-winning Arthur C. Clarke novel: RAMA. A wonderful book by the 2001: A Space Odyssey author and contemporary of, 40D. Many an Asimov character: ROBOT. Now here is a conundrum, is a Robot a character, or merely a thing? Asimov was amazing, and everyone should read the Foundation series, and if you like mysteries his Black Widower stories. They both were influenced by H.G. Wells, and The Time Machine which gave us 16A. Morlock fare: ELOI. Finally, 30D. Orson, e.g., in a '70s-'80s sitcom: ORKAN. We are over our Mork and Mindy quota aren’t we?

Or, GAMBLING: 24A What serious players play for: KEEPS. I really like this clue, especially followed by, 28A. Act that gets you a hand: DEAL. And our 67A. Roulette bet: NOIR, just French for Black.

And a bunch of law related stuff, so I could be the blogger, like: 6D. Speaks one's mind: OPINES. Like eschews, a favorite of lawyers, who do not like to ever just say something, they want to aver, or opine. 8D. First-year law student: ONE L. Ick, but real, sounds pompous to me. Then, 13D. Artificial locks: WIG. Which is like, 34D. Hairdo: COIF. This is an accepted variant of COIFFURE. Also, a legal honor society, derived from the barristers in England who all wore WIGS.

On with the rest.

Across:

1. Smart: CHIC. Smart, stylish, not intelligent.

5. Use a user ID: LOG ON. Use a user, nice phrase.

10. Look at: VIEW. This is why you should not stay up all night drinking before you go on TV . You will be one of the 70A. Lushes: SOTS.

15. "Brusha, brusha, brusha" toothpaste: IPANA. Man, we see a lot of Bucky these days.

17. Gp. dissolved 12/26/1991: USSR. I never thought of them as a group, was trying to think of rock and roll groups, which reminded me of 64A. It precedes di or da, in a Beatles song: OBLA. Time to LISTEN .

18. Hybrid big cat: LIGER. Have you all seen HERCULES who weights 900 pounds? Not to be confused with 36A. TV production co. whose mascot was Mimsie the Cat: MTM. No idea, though I remember Mary Tyler Moore and her husband Grant Tinker’s production company and the play on the MGM lion, with MTM and a kitty cat.

19. Half an ice grabber: TONG. Well, I think of the secret society they like to write about in mysteries, any truth C.C.?

23. Feature of Incan farms: TERRACE. I never knew about TERRACE FARMING but I guess schools teach more about native society than in my day.

33. Dry, as wine: SEC. There are also demi-sec (sweeter) and Brut (dryer) wines.

35. Untrained: RAW. I always think of raw recruits.

42. Point: AIM. My kind of pistol.

43. "This American Life" radio host Glass: IRA. Do not know this show. Anyone?

44. Fin. neighbor: NOR. Seems I always get a chance to shout out to our Norwegian friends.

49. "Tiny Toon Adventures" bunny: BABS. I never cared for the Tiny Toons, but with my kids I saw many episodes.

52. Mount also known as Horeb: SINAI. This is a very hot topic for biblical scholars but I will leave that to our own expert Hahtool and WIKIPEDIA .

53. Exterminate: ROOT OUT. More bible, as we root out all evil.

60. Slung food: HASH. My mental picture is MEL’S .

63. Initial strategy: PLAN A. How many of us ever have a plan B?

65. Sommer of "A Shot in the Dark": ELKE. Clouseau is back with a Pretty Woman.

66. Many a surfer: AOLER. Does that sound like a swear word to you too?

68. Diamond spoiler: FLAW.

69. 1954 event coded as "Castle Bravo": H TEST. This was 1,200 times more powerful than the bombs dropped in Japan, making many people who lived in the 50’s quite reasonably afraid of the impending end of the world, causing them to build underground shelters. My kids do not believe it.

Down:

1. Pie maker's pride: CRUST. Well, since we have so many wonderful cooks on our board directors, is it really the crust?

2. Locked, in a way: HASPED. It is a good thing I had the crosses because this would not have been in my head.

3. Marathoner's lament: I'M SORE. How about, I am an idiot for running 26 miles without being chased. I did however, teach Frank Shorter legal writing.

4. Traffic blocker: CAR CRASH. Been there too often.

5. Bath salt fragrance: LILAC. We had such pretty lilacs in pour yard when I was growing up.

7. Infatuated: GAGA. Is this SONG your cup of tea?

9. Not even one, with "a": NARY. A nice word from old western, “Nope nary an Injun around these parts.”

10. Chevy sportsters: VETTES. I always thought of Corvettes as a woman’s car, but maybe because my ex owned many of them.

11. UN workers' agcy.: ILO. International Labour Organization; notice the “u”, which tells you it is not an American group.

12. Two or more eras, in geologic time: EON. See, it is specific, sort of.

21. Infant who escaped Krypton: KAL EL. His father was JOR EL, but he became better known as Clark Kent and Superman.

22. Jet __: SKI.

25. Salinger title girl: ESME. With love and Squalor, another repeat performance.

26. Green stroke: PUTT.

27. Where to study for a Th.D.: SEM. Doctor of Theology, rather than Philosophy.

31. Word with nanny or web: CAM. Spying on your nanny? Which of course reminded of, 61D. __-American: ALL. So, who are we voting for the Heisman trophy, CAM Newton? He was at one time in Gainesville with Tebow.

32. Nine-time U.S. skating champ: KWAN. It seems almost every puzzle I blog contains a shout out to our figure skating females, who I am sure looked just like THIS .

37. Ventura County's __ Valley: SIMI. Most famous now I guess as the resting place of the corporeal remain of Ronald reagen.

38. "Let's go!": C'MON.

39. French wine term: CRU. This describes where a wine’s grapes were grown, without the specificity of a specific vineyard, though with Premier and Grand, it classifies the regions as to their reputations.

41. Three-course military supplies: K RATIONS. This was a hastily put together food package to feed a soldier, initially a paratrooper, three meals for a day. It replaced existing A B and C rations, and was not very nutritious, but did include some Chesterfields.

42. Symbol of stubbornness: ASS. No comment.

46. Some kind of nut: CASHEW. So simple, it was tricky.

47. Tool holder: KIT. I could not get LOIS to fit.

48. Goes on monotonously: DRONES. My real estate professor in law school, D.T. Smith, man could he talk and say nothing.

50. Playground mishap: BOOBOO. You sure about this career move JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE ?

51. Bright, as a porch: SUN LIT. Did you all have a sun porch growing up, like I did. Of course the sun only came out for a few weeks a year….

54. Dizzying genre: OP ART.? It can be disturbing, but it can also let your mind wander, what do YOU see in this PICTURE ? Hint, I was trying to keep a topic from the week going.

55. Nicholas I and II, e.g.: TSARS. Never the see the old CZAR any more, do we.

57. Hawaiian food fish: OPAH. Where have all of our Hawaiin posters gone? Anywya, I did not know this FISH .

58. Lump: CLOT. This was part of the most difficult section, as I think of clots only in terms of blood.

59. Broccoli relative: KALE. Broccoli is actually related to cabbage, kale, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts. It gets its name from the Italian, BROCCO, which means arm or branch (the Latin stem being Bracchium). Some people love this edible flower, while some children have been know to sit for hours at the table refusing to take even a bite, even foregoing a yummy dessert. You know who you are Brent and Kimberly. Anyway, if you like broccoli, you may also like to try broccoflower, a cross between broccoli and cauliflower. Broccolini, also called baby broccoli, is another new trademarked cross between broccoli and kale. According to nutritionists, raw or steamed broccoli is a superfood with anti-oxidant and ant-cancer ingredients.

60. Mag mogul with a mansion: HEF. Nice alliterative clue for the old Playboy Hugh Hefner.

62. Reggae precursor: SKA. An easy one, as almost every puzzle I blog does overlap my life; Devin, my youngest is going into the studio to record a couple of songs, and SKA was one of his musical influences.

Answer grid.

Thanks for inviting me into your homes, and I hope you enjoyed the show, until next time

Lemonade

Note from Don:

'This theme came to me in an instant. I heard the phrase “Stock Options”, and realized that I could come up with phrases where “stock” is normally used, and substitute a similar word to create wacky phrases. That is about all I can remember, except the first draft had to be revised, and Rich suggested an alternative. I thought the theme was also a little unusual, so it might have appeal from that perspective".

Here are a few beautiful pictures JD took from her recent Oahu trip. She also provided great captions. Click each one for clearer definition.

Thursday December 9, 2010 Kurt Mueller

Theme: Add a letter - Not to the answer, but to each successive clue.

16A. M: JAMES BOND'S BOSS. Sir Miles Messervy, as per The Man With the Golden Gun.

25A. Ma: MRS KETTLE.

37A. Max: PHYSICIST PLANCK. The founder of quantum theory.

51A. Maxi: LONG SKIRT. You have to be a special kind of person to pull this off.

62A. Maxim: PITHY PRINCIPLE. Because "men's magazine" didn't fit...

Hi all, Al here.

A tough theme to continue, I could only go two more steps without resorting to plurals:

Maxima: Nissan Model
Maximal: BeastWars Transformer

I found this puzzle both fun and entertaining, almost Naddoresque in places for the choice of answers like JIM DANDY, CHEAPO, TRIKE, and ZANIER. Also clues that tied together like "little wood", "little butt", "little rascal", and other misdirections. There did seem to be a few names, most not too bad, but the cross of AFT and FROMM did make me have to guess at first, not being one to read classified ads.

ACROSS:

1. Magic: MOJO. Originally meant a lucky charm in the shape of a hand, often worn between the legs, by gamblers and by women (against infidelity). It may derive from the West African Fula word moco’o, a medicine man, or from Gullah moco, meaning witchcraft or magic.

5. Time in a classified ad: AFT. Afternoon, I'm guessing...

8. Syrian president: ASSAD.

13. Surrounded by: AMID.

14. Bud: BRO. Pal, chum, homey, cuz.

15. Little wood: COPSE. Shortening of "coppice", which also has the same meaning: a small grove of trees planted specifically for cutting.

19. So-so connection?: AND. The original use was just to indicate something that is unspecified: "If I want to do so and so, then that's my business!" A similar phrase is "such and such". It has evolved into a euphemism for something unmentionable due to common use, thus acquiring a negative connotation itself: "You dirty so and so!" .

20. __ forces: ARMED. The notion of arms seems to be "that which is fitted together." Meaning "heraldic insignia" (in coat of arms, etc.) originally displayed on shields of fully armed knights or barons.

21. Senate majority leader Harry: REID.

23. Baseball stat.: AVG.

28. More clownish: ZANIER. Originally Zanni, Venetian dialect variant of Gianni, pet form of Giovanni "John." A stock character in old comedies, he aped the principal actors.

31. Doesn't try to reach the green, in golf: LAYS UP. For a safer next shot, use one instead of losing two. Unless you're like me and lose the next two in the pond anyway.

32. Current letters: AC-DC. Also an Aussie hard rock band.

33. Less taxing: EASIER. Like this clue.

43. Most tender: SOREST. I had wondered about the use of "sore" in a few old movies as meaning "very" (I am plumb sore wore out), until the eytmology dictionary pointed out the related German word "sehr", which, oddly enough, means "very".

44. Pace: GAIT. "A walking, or departure", related to gate, from Old Norse gata, a way or path.

45. Low-quality: CHEAPO. Brings to mind bad-smelling cigars.

49. Sumatran swingers: ORANGS.

55. Site of a 1981 sitcom honeymoon: ORK. Mork & Mindy. We've been seeing a lot of them lately.

56. Minute amount: IOTA. The Greek letter "i", which is the smallest letter, so literally the least part of anything.

57. __ badge: MERIT.

59. "Big Blue": IBM. Perhaps the logo, suits, mainframe color, or a combination of all three.

66. Old number?: ETHER. Not a counting number, but to numb your senses, an anesthetic.

67. Instrument on which Jake Shimabukuro can play "Bohemian Rhapsody": UKE. Jake is simply awe-inspiring. I may have also linked his version of Harrison's WMGGW before, but I'm doing it again, just because I think it would have been an even better choice for the clue.

68. Kind of officer or shark: LOAN.

69. Meg and Robert: RYANS.

70. __ Perce tribe: NEZ.

71. Asian beef source: KOBE. Kobe beef fat will actually begin dissolving at 77F degrees, which means the meat will literally melt in your mouth. If prepared as steak, kobe beef cannot be cooked more than medium rare, as it would otherwise liquefy.

DOWN:

1. Goya subject: MAJA. Two paintings, same model and pose, one clothed, one nude.

2. Yemen neighbor: OMAN.

3. Crackerjack: JIM DANDY.

4. Poetic tribute: ODE. From Late Latin, a "lyric song".

5. Common crossword clue letters: ABBR. Why does the word abbreviate need to be so long?

6. "The Art of Loving" author: FROMM. Erich, who presents love as a skill that can be taught and developed. I thought that book was called the Kama Sutra...

7. Cartridge filler: TONER. I started thinking gunpowder, then ink.

8. Coolers, briefly: ACS. Recently saw this clue for air conditioners.

9. One may be choked back: SOB. There, there, just let it all out.

10. Stylish: SPORTY. Concerning cars, I guess.

11. They may be liquid or frozen: ASSETS.

12. Original "Star Trek" studio: DESILU. Was owned by Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball.

17. Wise one: SAGE. Also an acoustic performance by Greg Lake of ELP.

18. Driller's deg.: DDS. Doctor of Dental Surgery.

22. Bank acct. entry: DEP. Deposit. Could have been INT.

24. Morrow and Damone: VICS.

26. One who lifts a lot?: KLEPTO. Lifting as slang for theft, not like these people.

27. '50s-'60s chief justice Warren: EARL.

28. Microwave: ZAP.

29. Cologne cry: ACH. German interjection. Lieber Augustin was a popular street musician, who, according to legend, fell into a pit filled with bodies of plague victims, late at night when he was drunk. Assuming that he was certain to catch the disease they left him for dead. Augustin did not contract the disease, which may have been owed to the influence of the alcohol. That sounds like a story for Ripley's Believe it or Not...

30. Boil over?: RECOOK. Over as "again", not as spilling onto the stove.

34. __ Jordan: Nike brand: AIR. I tend to avoid celebrity-endorsed products. Does that make me a hipster?

35. Vane dir.: SSE.

36. Part of TGIF: ITS. Thank God It's Friday. A mantra to take you to a happy place.

38. AOL et al.: ISPS. Internet Service Providers. It was pretty short-sighted to call it America on line, but the internet was young and hadn't taken over the world yet, I guess.

39. Culture medium: AGAR. They don't call it "smelly lab" for nothing... Not the agar itself, but the bacteria that gets grown on it.

40. Lover of Yum-Yum in "The Mikado": NANKIPOO.

41. Little butt?: CIG. Abbreviation for cigarette.

42. Gold meas.: KTS. Karats are the purity proportion. Carats are weight.

45. Second-century date: CLI. Well, it had to start with a C. After that, hope for perps.

46. Barrel worker: HOOPER. Someone had to make those metal bands that held the staves together.

47. Thing: ENTITY. That which is. Related to the crosswordese Latin word ESSE: "to be"

48. Hercule's creator: AGATHA. Hercule Poirot, Christie's Belgian detective with the active "little grey cells". David Suchet is my favorite portrayer.

50. Uniformed campus gp.: ROTC. Reserve Officers' Training Corps. I kept reading this as un-informed for some reason.

52. Little rascal: IMP. Originally just meant a shoot or graft of a plant, then transferred to human form with the sense of "newness". Pejorative association with phrases like "imp of Satan" gives us the present day meaning.

53. Chance to see what you missed the first time: RERUN.

54. Early mode of transportation: TRIKE. Cute clue. Early, meaning young, not ages ago. I wanted something else at first, like a horse.

58. Powerful 1966 hurricane: INEZ. Because the date was given to be in 1966, just find a female name that fits the perp letters and move along without further comment.

60. Yak: BLAB.

61. Word on a biblical wall: MENE. The idiom "The writing on the wall", to be able to foresee doom approaching, is a biblical story in the book of Daniel. King Belshazzar and his court praise the gods of gold and silver, brass, iron, wood, and stone. A disembodied hand appears and writes "Mene, Mene, Tekel u-Pharsin" on the wall. Daniel interprets this to mean God is displeased, and the end of the kingdom is at hand. Sure enough, the king is slain that night. You really had to be careful what you said to people back then, I guess...

63. Cock's mate: HEN. I've never heard it called that before...

64. Jr. and sr.: YRS. School years.

65. Type: ILK. Same. Related word: like

Notes from C.C.:

1) Today, we celebrate the birthday of the always attentive & caring Hahhool, who, together with Argyle & Dennis, has probably read every comment on the blog in the past two years, including those (deleted) mean-spirited troll posts.

2) We also celebrate, though a bit late, Bill G's return to his wonderful home & our blog for the holidays. Click here to see a picture of Bill, his loving wife Barbara and their three beautiful kids. And here to see Bill, Barbara and their adorable grand-kids. Both photos were taken last Sunday. Yesterday Bill asked how everyone pronounces "dissect". I "die-SECT", with long I. How about you?

Al