Thursday January 5, 2012 Victor Barocas

Theme: "All for one, and one for all!"

Follow the bold red letters to see the stars in the different rows of this puzzle:

1. The "u" sound in "circus" : SCHWA 6. Even if, for short : THO 9. Ladle cousin : SPOON ("Athos")

20. Rotterdam, for one : SEAPORT 22. Party person : HOSTESS  ("Porthos")

54. Boxer from California : BARBARA (U.S. Senator) 58. Letter : MISSIVE ("Aramis")

69. Control tower tracker : RADAR 70. Game for it? : TAG  (I thought this was a great clue - You are "It" in the game  of tag!) 71. Some iPods : NANOS ("D'Artagnan")

And the unifier:

40. With "The", classic novel, each of whose major characters is hiding in a row of this puzzle : THREE MUSKETEERS 

"The Three Musketeers", by Alexander Dumas, portrays the life of a young man named D'Artagnan who travels to Paris to join the other three adventurers of the title.

I thought this was a brilliantly executed puzzle.  Did you find the hidden characters before coming here?

Marti here, with your Thursday entertainment from Victor Barocas. We just saw his work in late December, with his "Bill of Rights" puzzle. But I thought this was a step up in the difficulty level. So let's see what he has to offer:

Across:

14. "Yond Cassius has ___ and hungry look" : A LEAN. From Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar"

15. Water in Côte d'Ivoire : EAU. Abejo, you nailed it, right?

16. Dispute : ARGUE 

17. Spicy Indian dish : CURRY. Also Thai, right?

18. One side of the GW bridge : NYC . George Washington Bridge is not always easy to get to New York City...

19. Preserves, in a way : SALTS

24. Schnozzola : SNOOT. Funny clue/answer for "nose"

26. Tell it like it isn't : LIE. Clever.

27. TV's Dr. House, e.g. : LIMPER. Oooh, I thought this was an un-PC clue!

30. Enjoy a kiddie pool : WADE

32. Many a GI : PVT. Private.

35. Plains native : OTOE

36. "...from my snow-white pen the ___-colored ink": Shak. : EBON Nice to see a quote for this answer.

38. Bender : SPREE. I went on a shopping bender the other day, and bought five pairs of shoes.

43. Thrift, briefly : S AND L. Short for "Savings and Loan". With this economy, it seems like I have been more "loan" than "savings". Maybe I should cut out buying so many shoes...

44. Crack : STAB. I took a stab at this answer.

45. Snug retreat : NEST.

46. Super Bowl highlights, for many : ADS . One of my favorites (0:30)...

47. Luncheon follower? : ETTE. Luncheonette...

49. Takes a position : OPINES. I often opine on this blog, but please don't take me seriously!

51. Eggs, biologically : OVA

52. Biden's 2008 counterpart : PALIN. I just finished reading Tina Fey's book "Bossypants".  She did a great Palin on SNL (2:18).

62. ___ a time : ONE AT

63. One in an unhappy chorus : BOO

65. Shroud city : TURIN 

66. Wind: Pref. : ANEMO. ...meter

67. Coffee holder : URN. Mine would be a "mug".

68. '30s Chan portrayer : OLAND. Do you remember him in "The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu"? Then you are a classic B&W oldies movie buff like me!!

And now, let's all settle...

Down:

1. Pouches : SACS . My favorite Saks purchases are Jimmy Choo and Prada... (C.C. would be proud of me!)

2. This is one : CLUE. HaHa. Funny clue!

3. A sister of Demeter : HERA. OK, I will 'fess up...this is the one I actually had to gg... (Oh the horror!)

4. "Star Trek" measure : WARP SPEED. And, why did I know this one without gg????

5. Whomever : ANYONE 

6. Nearing the hour : TEN TO. Or long odds...ten to one.

7. Farm gathering : HAY. Hey! I bet Windhover got this one!

8. Pained interjection : OUCH.

9. As fresh as they come : SASSIEST.

10. Chatter : PRATE. From German "pratten", to pout.

11. Seriously check out : OGLE. Seriously, do you ogle the check-out lady at Wal-Mart?

12. Inning enders : OUTS. Hah!  Nailed this one!  (I'm dancin', I'm dancin', I'm doin' the victory dancin' !!!)

13. Largest Scottish Loch by volume : NESS. Largest monster, too!

21. Composer of the 2005 opera "Our Town" : ROREM. Ned Rorem.  Adapted from the Thornton Wilder play "Our Town", which was first performed by the Indiana University Opera in 2006.

23. Word with man or maid : OLD. Did you play Old Maid when you were kids?  My old man did!!

25. Texas dance : TWO-STEP. Here is a perfect version (2:03) of this classic Texas dance.

27. Many, informally : LOTSA.

28. "___ to Be You" : IT HAD. First chance to link music. The original version by Priscilla Lane wasn't a winner, IMHO.  But Billie Holiday (4:04) nailed it!

29. E'ens' counterparts : MORNS

31. "Puppy Love" singer : ANKA. Another chance to link music. Wow!  I feel inspired (2:45)...

32. Get ready for the prom, say : PREEN.  I think of parrots and cockatoos when I think of "preening".  But I guess this also qualifies (3:50)...

33. Frost product : VERSE . Cold cheek? Nipped nose? Nope!

34. Medical battery : TESTS. As in, a battery of tests.

37. Exceed 21, in a way : BUST. OK, I guess these exceed 21"

39. The Crimea, e.g. : PENINSULA. Geography lesson of the day.

41. Car in a shaft : ELEVATOR

42. Where Christ stopped, in a Carlo Levi title : EBOLI . Memoir published in 1945. His anti-fascist beliefs led to his banishment by Benito Mussolini, to this remote southern Italian town.

48. La Brea goo : TAR

50. One of six in a V-6 engine : PISTON

51. "Dreams From My Father" memoirist : OBAMA

53. Surrounded by : AMONG

54. Tusked mammal : BOAR

55. Alexi Karenin's wife : ANNA . You do remember Anna Karenina?  She was most likely inspired by Maria Hartung, who is the oldest daughter of the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin (what a small world!!)

56. English horn, for one : REED. This instrument:

57. Lie alongside : ABUT 

59. Caspian Sea country : IRAN 

60. Rosso o bianco : VINO . Vin rouge ou blanc, for those non-Italians out there...

61. Closes : ENDS ...We're almost there!

64. Tuscan time period : ORA. 

"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,

That struts and frets his ORA upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing..."

And so, I apologetically strut off into the sunrise...

Answer grid.

Hugs,

Marti

Wednesday Jan 4, 2012 Bruce Venzke

Theme: Blind Date Symptoms

17A. Scratchy symptom of nerves : DRY THROAT

25A. Agitated symptom of nerves : RACING HEART

38A. Unstable symptom of nerves : WEAK KNEES

53A. Moist symptom of nerves : SWEATY PALMS

65A. Situation in which this puzzle's symptoms may appear : BLIND DATE

Neat unifier. I originally thought the theme entries are just "Adjective+body parts". Those symptoms are true for some men though. We girls are cool. No sweaty palms or weak knees.

Nice columns of triple 7's in the grid, which occurs when:

A: Your central grid is 9-letter long;

B: None of your other theme entries has 12 or more letters (unless they're grid spanners).

C: You're a good grid designer like Bruce Venzke, as it could be challenging to get clean crossing suitable for a Wednesday.

C.C. here. Our beautiful Bee needs an extra month off to settle down in her new home. She's one step closer to Mount Shasta.

Across:

1. Times to call, in ads : AFTs. Why not just a shorter "PMs?"

5. Graduate school degs. : MBAs. For Jazzbumpa & Marti. And W.

9. Zippo : ZILCH

14. The first Mrs. Copperfield : DORA. You all know this?

15. Kathryn of "Law & Order: C.I." : ERBE. Rhymes with "Herbie". German for "Descendent" or "Heir".

16. Diplôme issuer : ECOLE

19. Place to get eats : DINER

20. Woman in a "Paint Your Wagon" song : ELISA. Have never seen the movie.

21. 22-Downs, e.g. : NCOs. And 22D. Mil. rank : SGT

23. Shoot the breeze : GAB. Can you picture a meeting between Dennis & Lois? More than breeze will be shot.

24. "We are __ amused" : NOT

29. Hive denizens : DRONES

31. Shoe part : TONGUE

32. Meara of comedy : ANNE. She's a crossword fan.

33. First name in Japanese golf : ISAO (Aoki). Here he is again. The hardest working golfer in crossword.

37. Parkinson's treatment : L-DOPA

41. Fictional neatnik : UNGER (Felix). From "The Odd Couple".

44. Treated, as a bump on the head : ICED. Boomer had a head fall last year. Scared me to death.

45. Bank statement abbr. : ACCT

49. Hardly skilled in : POOR AT

51. Mailer or Miller : AUTHOR. Norman Mailer and Arthur Miller.

57. 60 minutes, in Florence : ORA. "Hour".

58. "'Tain't" rebuttal : 'TIS. Apostrophe season!

59. Prego competitor : RAGU

60. Like cornstalks : EARED. Have you read this article about our Husker Gary? Best wishes for his daughter.

62. Comparable, distance-wise : AS FAR

67. Crystalline stone : GEODE

68. Emulate the 18-Down : LOSE. 18D. Overconfident critter of fable : HARE.

69. High: Pref. : ALTI. Or plural for alto.

70. Made a blooper : ERRED

71. Had chits to pay : OWED

72. Bad-tempered : MEAN

Down:

1. Riders, e.g. : ADDENDA. Plural of addendum. "Rider" refers to the addition to a bill, not the horse rider as I first thought.

2. Woebegone : FORLORN

3. "I wonder if this will fit" response : TRY IT ON. Normally it doesn't, for me anyway.

4. H.S. seniors' concerns : SATs

5. La Méditerranée, e.g. : MER

6. Hard-to-ride horse : BRONC. Lois can tame them all.

7. Ancient calculators : ABACI. "Ancient"? Sure makes me feel old, since I carried my own abacus for a few years.

8. New Jersey's __ Hall University : SETON. What's it famous for?

9. British series ender : ZED. We have two Brits on our blog.

10. Henri's here : ICI. Tricky use of 's.

11. Way back when : LONG AGO

12. Become cloudless : CLEAR UP

13. Chamomile soother, e.g. : HERB TEA. I always call it "Herbal tea".

26. Gobi Desert locale : ASIA

27. Boring result? : HOLE. Great clue.

28. Concludes by : ENDS AT

30. Period to usher in : NEW ERA

34. Enjoy Telluride, say : SKI. Oh, dear, Telluride is a ski area in Colorado. It just looks like some kind of drug/chemical to me, Marti!

35. "Best in Show" org. : AKC

36. Small bill : ONE

39. Part of Q.E.D. : ERAT

40. Red-coated wheel : EDAM

41. Steal the spotlight from : UPSTAGE

42. Still clueless : NO WISER

43. Likes a lot : GOES FOR

46. Bach work : CHORALE

47. Civil rights leader __ Scott King : CORETTA. Wife of Martin Luther King, who's called "phony" by Jackie Kennedy.

48. Common car sale component : TRADE IN

50. Norse god of heroic glory : TYR. Thanks for giving us Tuesday, Mr. Tyr!

52. Employed : USED

54. Cellist Casals : PABLO

55. Softly lit : AGLOW

56. Rainer who was the first to win consecutive Oscars : LUISE. For "The Great Ziegfeld" (1936) and "The Good Earth" (1937). I was unaware of the trivia.

61. Grandfather of Enos : ADAM. Oh, yeah, just another reminder that Enos lives forever in crossword as well. If not answer, then clue.

63. Soft drink suffix : ADE

64. Roulette bet : RED

66. Outlaw Kelly : NED. Aussie.

Answer grid.

Two more notes:

1) If you're interested in guest-blogging once a month here at the Corner, please send me an email (crosswordc@gmail.com). Thanks.

2) Happy Birthday to Dick!

3) Congratulations to Jazzbumpa on his new writing gig. His first post is up today.

C.C.