Saturday December 11, 2010 Barry Silk

Theme: None

Total words: 70

Total blocks: 32

Barry placed one grid-spanner flanked by two 14s in the middle of his grid, the first two are making their major newspaper debut today:

30A. Dangerous inner city area : CONCRETE JUNGLE. Learning moment for me.

36A. Munsee-speaking people : DELAWARE INDIANS. I suspect this is Barry's seed entry.

38A. Subject of Michael Crichton's "Prey" : NANO TECHNOLOGY. Great answer.

As usual, some nice cross-references in Barry's themeless:

41A. 1-Down attendees: Abbr. : SRS. And PROM (1D. Event for 41-Across).

11D. Eastern leader since 1994 : KIM JONG-IL. Bad person. Good answer. Kim = Gold. Jong = Straight. Il = Sun. Il, with a different character, but same pronunciation, can also mean the F word.

44D. North __, 11-Down's country : KOREA

Quite a Scrabbly puzzle, two Js, one Z/X, only one Q away from being a pangram.

Across:

1. Psychiatrist's recommendation : PROZAC. So is Zoloft.

7. "Spanish Harlem" singer : BEN E. KING. Unknown to me. Here is the clip.

15. NFL team named for a Poe poem : RAVENS. Baltimore Ravens. Their mascot is named Poe. Very cool.

16. Male models, often : ADONISES

17. Dalí had a pet one : OCELOT. Unaware of the trivia.

18. Sitcom with a robot named Hymie : GET SMART. Only saw the silly film starring Steve Carell/Anne Hathaway.

19. Reason for an award : MERIT

20. TV host with a substantial car collection : LENO (Jay)

21. Morning choice : JAVA. Not mine.

22. Halloween sightings? : GHOULS

24. __ face : POKER

25. Music-licensing org. : BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc)

28. New York and Chicago have the oldest ones in the Americas : ELS

29. Circulation aid : FAN

39. "The Chronic" Dr. : DRE. The rapper. Was ignorant of the album. Great clue then.

40. Gas: Pref. : AER. Gas? I thought it's a prefix for "air", as in aerate.

42. Polyester used in casting : ALKYD. Both the clue & answer mean nothing to me.

45. Topsy-turvy state : BEDLAM

48. Inventor who received a lifetime achievement Grammy in 1970 : MOOG (Robert). Synthesizer inventor.

49. Tarot suit : CUPS. Stumped. Know nothing about tarot.

50. Old Asian title : SAHIB. Literally "master," used in Colonial India.

54. Gall : IRRITATE

56. Scour, e.g. : ABRADE

57. Weaken : ENERVATE

58. Easy to handle : DOCILE. Apropos of nothing, I just read it somewhere that women prefer to date men who have dumped their partner before, while men prefer the dumpee because they are afraid of being dumped next. True?

59. Great Lakes routes : SEA LANES.

60. O, in many cases : OXYGEN. Was thinking of Oprah's O.

Down:

2. Tear : RACE

3. Through : OVER

4. Woody Allen film : ZELIG. The 1983 mockumentary.

5. Synonymous with, with "for" : ANOTHER WORD. Didn't come to me immediately.

6. Gary hrs. : CST. Gary, Indiana. I wonder what our Husker Gary was thinking.

7. Follower of everything? : BAGEL. Is "Everything bagel" a NY thing? I've never heard of it before.

8. Perfect places : EDENS

9. Say __: refuse : NO TO

10. Cincinnati trio? : ENS. The trio in the word Cincinnati.

12. "Wicked Game" singer Chris : ISAAK. Faintly rang a bell. Here is the song.

13. Courage : NERVE

14. The sun is one : G-STAR. Bill G linked this terrific comparison chart last time.

20. Brilliance, in Bristol : LUSTRE. Bristol, England. Hence the RE ending.

23. Fatty acid ester : OLEATE. Learned from doing Xword.

24. Repository of Greek mythology : PANDORA'S BOX. Great entry.

25. Alphabet trio : BCD

26. Big name in faucets : MOEN

27. At Dodger Stadium, briefly : IN LA

29. Pouring aid : FUNNEL

31. She "sets my heart awhirl," in a 4 Seasons hit : CANDY GIRL. Do you like the song?

32. Continental trade gp. : EEC (European Economic Community).

33. Holy wars : JIHADS. Literally.

34. Vientiane's land : LAOS

35. Caltech grad's occ., often : ENGR

37. Part of MS-DOS: Abbr. : SYS

42. Nice friends : AMIES. Nice the city in France.

43. Greene of "Bonanza" : LORNE

45. Mesa's cousin : BUTTE

46. Cousins of foils : EPEES

47. Mount __, New York's highest peak : MARCY. No idea, Argyle!

49. "Brian's Song" Emmy nominee : CAAN (James). Dennis the Dummy liked the movie, if I remember correctly. About Brian Piccolo. Quite sad.

51. Reagan secretary of state : HAIG (Alexander). "I'm in control here".

52. Not engaged : IDLE

53. "It's __ too long" : BEEN

55. Knoxville-based agcy. : TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority)

56. Bother : ADO

Answer grid.

C.C.

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.