Friday, January 13, 2012, Marti Duguay-Carpenter

THEME: The Doctor told me , "add a Y and give me a pun in the morning". Why, Y not? Not quite a simple 'add a letter' at the end of the first word of a common two word phrase which also changes the meaning into a very amusing visual describing a not very nice person or persons. Another Friday from Marti for me to write up, I already see this year as being better than last. The theme of 2 10's and 2 12's came easily, so let's examine them.

17A. Peevish audience?: TESTY GROUP. Our Test Groups often lost their patience when we had them administer electric shocks to teach their classmates, during Psychology experiments..

27A. Irritable telemarketer?: CRANKY CALLER. Our Crank Caller, loses his patience, too?

48A. Sect members telling off-color jokes?: SALTY SHAKERS. By far my favorite, transforming the boring Salt Shaker into an old religious zealot who believes in speaking in tongues, celibacy and telling dirty jokes. I have mentioned my high school was built on the sight of an old Shaker village. I am going to an alumni event Sunday. Thanks M.

63A. Surly sort?: TOUCHY TYPE. I am no Touch Typist, but don't call me a Hunt 'n Pecker, I am a little touchy on the subject.

The rest was all over the place, with fun facts, new stuff and tricky clues befitting a Friday; almost a pangram, with only the "J" missing. Hey, wait a minute, now that I am here, maybe it is a pangram, let's see.

Across:

1. Sign of age: WEAR. and tear; don't I know it.

5. Asian city whose name means "place of the gods : LHASA. I have read much about the Dalai Lama and TIBET.

10. Buds: PALS. Not BEER?

14. "Play it, Sam" speaker: ILSA. Watch IT. 4:07. Really a great clip of a beautiful woman.

15. Legendary creator of talking animals: AESOP. The true history of this 5th century BC fabulist is debated, but they all seem to agree he was "of loathsome aspect...potbellied, misshapen of head, snub-nosed, swarthy, dwarfish, bandy-legged, short-armed, squint-eyed,liver-lipped—a portentous monstrosity."

16. Fairy tale side, often: EVIL. Good versus.

19. Jim-dandy: A-ONE.

20. Third baseman Ron posthumously elected to the Hall of Fame in December 2011: SANTO. A Chicago Cub legend, who was also a Diabetic who lost the lower half of both legs before succumbing in 2010.

21. Something for nothing: FREE RIDE. Like the joy of reading this blog if you do not contribute a little.

23. Know-it-_: self-proclaimed brains : ALLS. lucky none of us are like that.

26. Carrier with a portmanteau name: AMTRAK. AMerican TRAcK crammed together.

32. Place for a ring: EAR. How many of our male regulars have adorned the lobe with a piercing?

33. Like London fog: SOUPY. Not Sales, just fog.

34. Range of understanding: REACH. beyond my ken. (Insert barbie jokes here).

38. Cpls., e.g.: NCOS. Non-commissioned Officers.

40. Bucs and Nats: NLERS. National Leaguers, in baseball.

42. First name in sports cars: ENZO. Ferrari.

43. Belief: TENET. Often associated with religious beliefs.

45. Rap sheet listing: PRIOR. I can hear the wheels turning.

47. Graffiti ID: TAG. Live and learn.

51. Winter climber's need: ICE AXE.

54. Ornate metal ware: TOLE. My momma done tole me? I did not know this word for enameled stuff.

55. "If I may ...": PERMIT ME, one of Dennis' new job phrases, when confronted with a bra...

58. High capital: LA PAZ. Nuestra Señora de La Paz, Our Lady of Peace. The seat of government in Bolivia, overlooking the wonderfully named Lake Titicaca. The Lake alone can revive out DF ways.

62. Sunburn soother: ALOE. "Allo, Allo can I help you? LINK.

66. River to the Moray Firth: NESS. Yes, the river starts in the LOCH and runs to the INLET in the North Sea.

67. Footnote abbr: ET SEQ. A common legal term from the Latin meaning literally 'and following.'

68. Rock bands?: ORES. Nice misdirection clue to describe how the metal sits in the rocks. No AXEOLOGY reference today.

69. Help hold up, say: ABET. More fodder for the hater, hold up like a robber might.

70. Country dances: REELS. Any of a number of dances, likely all from Ireland, Scotland or England. My FAVORITE.1:59.

71. On deck: NEXT. How perfect, a baseball reference for C.C., and a segue into the...

Down:

1. Wilde and Twain, e.g.: WITS, Oscar and Mark certainly were; my father used to tell me I was 1/2 way there.

2. Zeno of __: ELEA. perps made this possible, I recall the PHILOSOPHER, not where he was from.

3. Part of AAA: Abbr.: ASSN. American Automobile Association.

4. Wood being tested for use as artificial bone: RATTAN. The wood from certain Asian Palm Trees, unaware of this bone(headed?) idea.

5. Get behind: LAG. For our Scandinavian members, this is from Norwegian lagga to go slowly, like many do.

6. The other woman: HER. Marti, you promised not to tell!

7. Since: AS OF.

8. Go bad: SOUR. Like an idea or milk.

9. Post-trial proceeding: APPEAL. My favorite part of the legal process, to get a higher court to rectify an an error by the trial court.

10. Partridge's perch?: PEAR TREE. Can you do all 12 days without looking? LINK.

11. To have, in Le Havre: AVOIR. The French lesson of the day, such as "avez vous le crayon?"

12. McCartney of Wings: LINDA. marry a rock legend and you too can be a star. LINK. 3:17 A nice Jewish girl from New Jersey ends up Lady McCartney.

13. Smooth and glossy: SLEEK.

18. Yellows: YOLKS. Ha, not ages with time, Marti just egging us on.

22. Critical care abbr: EMER. gency.

24. Interpol command center site, locally: LYON. pronounces Leeawn; we call it LYONS, like from Detroit.

25. Cut stone: SCULPT. Literal; nothing like cutting cheese.

27. Slight change?: CENT. I lost the RED this week.

28. Derby, for example: RACE. Not the hat, the horses.

29. Memphis middle name ARON. We owe poor Elvis a second A.

30. Mimicking APERY. not a cage for APES.

31. Old string player: LYRIST. One who plays the LYRE, unlike Jim Carrey who plays the LIAR.

35. Certain forced bet: ANTE. Your buy in for each hand.

36. Winter Palace ruler: CZAR.

37. Big bikes: HOGS.

39. Briefly, show whose name appears under "123" in its logo: SESAME ST. The briefly explains the abbreviation of STREET. Go Muppets.

41. NYC neighborhood: SOHO. South of Houston. Classic crosswordese, know it!

44. Roll before flying: TAXI. Really cute clue, my mind was not on the runway, but my suitcase.

46. Come from behind : RALLY. All right, the write up was dragging but I am ready for a strong finish.

49. Love __: LETTER. My gift to you all this SONG.3:47.

50. "Something's Gotta Give" actress: KEATON. Diane, perhaps more famous for the work of our this week topic Woody Allen and Annie Hall.

51. Bucky Beaver's toothpaste: IPANA. here is where we separate the young and old how many recall this TV ad? LINK. 1:05

52. One of Us?: CELEB. I presume the reference is to the magazine Us Weekly.

53. Jagged: EROSE. "By any other name would smell so sweet..." No, not that kind, like leaves, anyway, hey again ARABON.

56. Sunbeam speck: MOTE. Like dust ones.

57. Chant ending: EUSE, no not amen, nor an encore but Chanteuse.

59. Woodpile in "Light My Fire": PYRE. An anthem whether you like the version by the DOORS 3:37 or Jose Feliciano.

60. Peak: APEX. I loved Twin Peaks; the TV show, not Dolly Parton, though I love her too, she is so tiny, er short.

61. Tang: ZEST.

64. "Fantasia" unit: CEL. A single frame of a cartoon. Very popular crossword answer and more fuel for the hater.

65. Mil. centers: HQS. Head Quarters. Military is abbreviated so the answer MUST be an abbreviation.

Answer grid.

Well, here at Blogger Central, I am getting ready to pack up my tools and my old Groucho Marx idea book, and leave the rest to you the readers; first thank you Marti (see comment below) and I do want to remind you it is Friday the 13th, and all my co-workers insist I leave my hockey mask home! So be careful out there.

1) Constructor comment:

I originally was playing around with the old "add a letter" theme. But I wanted a "cool" letter (not just e, or s, or t...).

***I know!!! Use a "Y" !! It's a cool letter, and besides, it's worth 3 in scrabble...***

TaDa! We have a theme. Hmmm, now for those pesky theme entries. Pesk-Y ?? Why, that's it!! Use people who are DF, just like our blog: Peevish, irritable, telling off-color jokes, surly...perfect!

2) Note from C.C.:

Please cap your post length at about 20 lines. Also, if you want to practice links at the Comments section, please use yesterday's or any old post so as not to affect the comments flow. Thanks.

Thursday, January 12, 2012 Gareth Bain

Theme: He took a hundred pounds of clay, and he created...A Crossword Puzzle!!

18A. *Publicist, often : SPIN DOCTOR. Not a DJ?

23A. *Have nowhere to go but up : HIT BOTTOM. I could go DF, but it's too early...

34A. *1952 Cooper classic : HIGH NOON. Actor Gary Cooper in one of his most intense roles.

40A. *Shared : IN COMMON. We have a lot in common on this corner. Crossword puzzles, music, books, food...

55A. *Place for a row of potted plants : WINDOW BOX. HaHa, I was thinking this was a misdirection for "marijuana".

And the unifier:

61. It suggests the vowel pattern in the five starred answers : ONE HUNDRED. Ironic, because Rich would never accept a grid entry which represents 100 as "IOO". So this theme is quite unusual in that regard.

We also have a bonus entry with

2D. "101 Dalmations" mother : PERDITA. Notice it was put into the commonly abbr. clue for the film, instead of using the full name "One Hundred and One Dalmations", which would repeat words from the unifier answer. Maybe this clue should have been "IOI Dalmations" mother??

Marti here, to expound on this fun diversion. There was nothing that really made me stumble here, so it was an unusually fast Thursday time for me.

Across:

1. Certain blocker's target : SPAM. I use Postini to filter e-mail before it even hits my computer.

5. Chaste : VESTAL. In ancient Rome, the vestal virgins served a term of thirty years: IO as a student, IO in service, and IO as a teacher.

11. Spotted, to Tweety : TAW. "I tawt I taw a puddy tat!"

14. Fix : MEND

15. "Finished!" : I'M DONE. (Why no, I'm just getting warmed up!)

16. Lacto-___ vegetarian : OVO. They consume no flesh of animals, but do consume milk and eggs. A vegan, on the other hand, consumes no animal products at all.

17. Spring blossom : IRIS. A pretty sight to us New Englanders.

20. QB's scores : TDs. Touchdowns. Like those scored by quarterback Tom Brady of the New England Patriots against the Broncos this coming Saturday...

21. Actress Zadora : PIA. Her film career never took off. (Well, what can you expect, if your debut film was "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians"?) But, her fame lives on in crossword puzzles!

22. At the pawn shop : IN HOCK

27. Miniscule bits : IOTAS

28. Represented, with "for" : STOOD

29. Jewish wedding favorite : HORA. I thought it was the liverwurst?

31. "Star Trek: DSN" character : ODO. (DSN = Deep Space Nine). Odo was the Chief of Security on the ship, and was a changeling who could morph into any shape. I want to be a changeling, so I can morph into a size 2.

32. Oakley with a gun : ANNIE

37. Shore scavenger : GULL

39. "Git!" : SHOO. I have been saying that to the cats all night - they are very interested to know what I am typing.

44. One of a Dumas trio : ATHOS. Remember our lesson from last Thursday? Athos, Porthos and Aramis were the Three Musketeers. D'Artagnan traveled to Paris to join them. Would you believe, I'm listening to the 1948 version on TCM right now, with Lana Turner and Gene Kelly!!!

47. Sun, in Sonora : SOL.

48. One of two elimination games : SEMI. -final. Timely, while we are waiting to see who goes to the Super Bowl!

50. Carried : BORNE.

52. Foreshadowers : OMENS. Do you believe in omens?

57. Everything, so they say : TIMING. I'd tell you a bad joke to illustrate, but I can't type that fast...

59. Small songbird : TIT. Have atit, guys...(Grumpy 1, that means everyone)

60. Place for drips, briefly : ICU. Anyone think "bar"?

64. Mil. plane requiring minimal runway space : STOL. "Short Take-Off and Landing", like this. (0:30) I bet my buddy Dudley could do that!

65. Cooler : PEN. Hoosegow, klink, stir, crowbar hotel, the joint, up the river...

66. What Bonnie and Clyde came to : BAD END. They never made it to the PEN, but were killed in an ambush by law enforcement officers in Louisiana.

67. Maidstone's county : KENT. Geography lesson.

68. Some MIT grads : EEs. Electrical Engineers.

69. Beau : STEADY.

70. Mid-month time : IDES

(Entr'Acte...) (4:16)

Down:

1. Metalworkers : SMITHS

3. "Bruce Almighty" actress : ANISTON. Jennifer Aniston, Jim Carey and Morgan Freeman team up in this funny movie. (0:29)

4. Docs : MDs

5. Call on : VISIT

6. Sci-fi psychic : EMPATH. Like Star-Trek's famous Deanna Troi of crosswords.

7. Star Wars abbr. : SDI. Duh, I was still on the sci-fi train above, and forgot that this refers to "Strategic Defense Initiative", proposed by Ronald Reagan in 1983. Perps nudged me back to the correct answer.

8. Mounds of pounds : TON. Cute clue. But, I would rather have pounds of Mounds!

9. "...___quote:" : AND I. Phew! I really had to pay attention to all the punctuation in this one, in order to suss the answer. Ellipses, blank, colon, and quotes!

10. Actress Téa : LEONI. Pretty. I remember her from "Fun With Dick and Jane".

11. Glinda's reassurance to Dorothy : TOTO TOO. Hard to parse. From the final scene in Oz:

Glinda: ...Now those magic slippers will take you home in two seconds!
Dorothy: Oh! Toto too?
Glinda: Toto too.

12. Guacamole fruit : AVOCADO.

13. Attempts to sway : WORKS ON. When you were a kid, did you work on your father or your mother first?

19. Comic Margaret : CHO.

21. Conductor's place : PODIUM.

24. Drum heard around a fire : BONGO. Like these. (0:53)

25. "I'm impressed!" : OOH. "I'm really impressed!":ooooooooooooh.

26. Some hosp. pics : MRIs.. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (s?)

30. Muslim official : AGHA.

33. Bark beetle victims : ELMS.

35. Search engine launched by Wired magazine in 1996 : HOTBOT

36. "Ain't gonna happen" : NO HOW. Not to be confused with know-how.

38. MGM co-founder : LOEW. I always want to write Leow, for some reason.

40. Tritium, to hydrogen : ISOTOPE. Hydrogen is the only molecule that has different names for its isotopes. ²H is known as "Deuterium" and ³H is known as "Tritium" etc., up to ⁷H. Memorize these names. (They may come back to haunt you in one of my puzzles...)

41. Oscar night hopeful : NOMINEE. George Clooney is the predicted winner for best actor in "The Descendents" this year. Have you seen it yet?

42. Twain, at birth : CLEMENS. Samuel Langhorne...

43. Abbr. between a first and last name, maybe : NMI. No Middle Initial.

45. Revolved around : ORBITED.

46. Gelid treat : SNO-CONE. "Gelid" looks like a funny word to me.

49. Mean : INTEND.

51. Revels : EXULTS. Did everyone exult on New Year's Eve?

53. Biomedical research org. : NIH. National Institutes of Health. I spent a lot of time talking to the researchers there, deciding what new products our biotech company should develop.

54. Leaves off the guest list : SNUBS.

56. Rapper who said, "the 'P.' was getting between me and my fans" : DIDDY. AKA Sean John Combs.

58. Annoying insect : GNAT

62. Two-time ETO commander : DDE. (European Theater of Operations) Dwight David Eisenhower. Did not remember that he was a two-time commander. But "ETO" had to be DDE...

63. Blues-rocker Chris : REA. One of his early "On the Beach" recordings.

64. Word with run or jump : SKI. Yay, one for me!! I will be running and jumping this weekend in Stowe, VT. I'll try to get online to say "hi", though.

Answer grid.

Hugs,

Marti