Thursday, February 23, 2012 Rich Mausser

Theme: Travelocity.   Car makers' brands are combined into fun vacation trips. Let's see what they are...

16A. Joint Chevrolet/Kia vacation package? : VENTURE TO SEDONA. Well, I would VENTURE to say, that a trip to SEDONA, AZ would be a relaxing vacation.

23A. Joint GMC/Hyundai vacation package? : SAFARI TO SANTA FE. I don't know how many wild beasts I might find on this SAFARI, but SANTA FE is certainly a wild place.

41A. Joint Ford/Chrysler vacation package? : ESCAPE TO NEWPORT. I love to ESCAPE for a weekend in NEWPORT, visiting all the mansions of Astor and Vanderbilt.

56A. Joint Dodge/Toyota vacation package? : JOURNEY TO TACOMA. I guess I could visit the Museum of Glass on my JOURNEY to TACOMA, WA.

In the center of grid: DROVE (36. Took the wheel).  See 19A...Yes, I DROVE the Mercedes on the autobahn.

Hearti here, with this week's Thursday exploration. Another fun theme from Rich - I do hope he will drop in to say hello today! So, on to the rest of the fill:

Across:

1. Payment option : CASH. I don't carry much CASH these days...debit cards are so much more convenient.

5. The Arthur Ashe Award for Courage is one : ESPY. Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards, part of the ESPN team and individual athletic achievement awards.

9. Detergent target : DIRT. 

13. Peek-__ : ABOO. ("I see you!")

14. One-named singer of "Rolling in the Deep" : ADELE. OK, you know this one...rock on!!

15. Creepy lake? : ERIE. "Eerie" sounding lake.

19. Burns rubber : STEPS ON IT. DH is terrified to be a passenger when I drive.  I can't understand why...I had a great time on the autobahn last December!!

20. Sources of inspiration : LUNGS. HaHa, funny clue. "in-spiration" - (breathing "in")

21. Spy novelist Deighton : LEN. Famous for his novel, "The Ipcress File", which was made into a movie starring Michael Caine.

22. Pres. before RWR : JEC. Ronald Wilson Reagan, James Earl Carter.

32. Sheepshank, e.g. : KNOT. This one. Boy Scouts and sailors in our group will recognize it, right?

33. Cleveland's Quicken Loans __ : ARENA. Did not know about this venue for the Cleveland Cavaliers. And then we have 1D. Cleveland cagers : CAVS

34. Blend : MIX

35. Elihu for whom an Ivy is named : YALE. You are all on a first-name basis by now, right?

37. Colada fruit : PINA. In English, "pineapple".

38. Sidewall letters : PSI. Pounds per Square Inch. (Why not "PPSI"?)

39. Glistened : SHONE. Shined, glared, flashed...none fit. What did you come up with?

40. Feature of American panneling, but not British? : ONE L. In the UK  they spell it "panelling". Devious clue.

45. Chap : LAD

46. ICU workers : RNS. Registered Nurses in the Intensive Care Unit.

47. Two-time loser to Ike : ADLAI. Stevenson.

50. Sought at auction : PUT A BID ON. Tough to parse this one...not a common expression.

58. Clock radio letters : AM/PM. Anyone else want AM/FM???

59. Colleague of Thomas : ALITO. Supreme Court Justice nominated by George W. Bush in January 2006. And 18 D. Colleague of Clarence : ELENA. Clarence Thomas and Elena Kagan, associate justices of the Supreme Court.

60. Pale-green moth : LUNA.  HaHa, I just used this one as part of a clue to a theme entry I am working on today! 

61. Homer's tavern : MOE'S. The Simpsons, never watched it.

62. Legendary Brazilian footballer : PELE

63. Celtic land : ERIN

and now we go...

Down:

2. Contribute to, as a crime : ABET

3. Sound measure : SONE

4. Portable cooker : HOT PLATE

5. Site of an early exile : EDEN

6. Space exploration org. : SETI. Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. Why don't we just search for  intelligence in our own senate?

7. It's hatched : PLOT

8. Ja or da, stateside : YES. "Ja", in German and "Da", in Russian mean "Yes", in English

9. Take off, as a discount : DEDUCT

10. Malleable metal : IRON

11. Thieves' group : RING

12. Earl Grey et al. : TEAS. I like NesTEA Raspberry flavor.

14. Rice-__ : -A-RONI, the San Francisco treat...

17. App downloader : USER. I have tons of apps on my iPhone. But I love playing scrabble with my friends, best!

22. Dick's partner : JANE. Click on my avatar...they got me started!

23. Internet telephony provider : SKYPE

24. Jawbone of __: Samson's weapon : AN ASS

25. Type of acid found in veggies : FOLIC. One of the important B-Vitamins. And don't forget the 29D. Essential acid : AMINO

26. Mystic's medium : TAROT

27. Home to Maine's Black Bears : ORONO

28. Lowest card in klaberjass : SEVEN. OK, so this was a new one to me, but with a W.A.G. and some perps, I got it right. Maybe Hahtool knows the game? Lemonade tells me that the game is played with a French-suited Piquet deck, which was used to tell fortunes. It's a skill he learned from his grandmother!

30. Of a higher quality : FINER

31. Praise : EXALT

36. Played, but not in the field, briefly: DH'ED. Refers to "Designated Hitter"? So, played as a DH, or "DH'ed"? Boy, I needed all perps for this one!

37. Ice cream truck offering : POPSICLE. Yummm!

39. 1992 Summer Olympics country : SPAIN

42. Roosters, at times : ALARMS

43. Lyre-playing Muse : ERATO

44. Ladies' court gp. : WNBA. Women's National Basketball Association.

47. Stuck, after "in" : A JAM

48. Major-__ : DOMO. Interesting explanation of the term on wiki.

49. Rapper __ Fiasco : LUPE. He's in to skateboarding...

50. Pulitzer-winning WWII journalist : PYLE. Ernie, not Gomer!

51. $150 Monopoly prop. : UTIL. ity

52. Carry : TOTE

53. Gloomy : DOUR

54. Present opening? : OMNI-present.  According to Eastern Christianity, God is present everywhere.

55. Asian flatbread : NAAN. This stuff:

57. "The Purloined Letter" monogram : EAP. Edgar Allen Poe. One of three detective stories in a series. The other two were (the more well-known?) "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and (the less-known?) "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt". Hmmmm...I think I have to go get out my EAP books!

Answer grid.

That's it for tonight, folks. See you on the "other side" of midnight!

Hugs,

Marti

Wednesday, February 22 2012 Gareth Bain

Theme: Walt and Oscar make Beautiful music. Five (!) theme answers are Best Song Oscar winners from Disney animated movies. Two of them grid spanning, two are almost, and the middle one misses only by two. Wow. I had no idea.

17A. Best Original Song Oscar winner from ... Disney's "Pocahontas" : COLORS OF THE WIND. Who is the savage?

23A. ... Disney's "Aladdin" : A WHOLE NEW WORLD. Magic Carpet Ride.

39A. ... Disney's "Song of the South" : ZIP-A-DEE-DOO-DAH. Mr. Bluebird's on my shoulder.

53A. ... Disney's "Mary Poppins" : CHIM CHIM CHER-EE. Are you feeling lucky?

61A. ... Disney's "Monsters, Inc." : IF I DIDN'T HAVE YOU. Those dreams do come true.

Hi. gang. Jazzbumpa here. It's my pleasure to take you on a wonderful musical adventure today. There was a time when Gareth and I were joined at the virtual interface - just by chance, each of my blogging dates lined up with his puzzle publications. I think we hit three in a row that way. But this is our first meeting since then, and it's been far too long. Let's segue right into the action.

Across:

1. '50s-'60s Bronx Bombers nickname, with "The" : MICK. Mickey Mantle - not Mouse. Takes me back to my youth. Also a nice baseball entry for our lovely hostess. His cards are collectable.

5. South Seas tuber : TARO. This starchy tuber is a common food in Oceania. The raw tuber is toxic.

9. Oceans : RAFTS. A secondary meaning for both words is a large quantity. Extra credit for crossing the ocean on a RAFT.

14. Like the team before @, on schedules : AWAY. The visiting team in a sporting event, like the Red Wings who went down 2-1 in Chicago. Dang!

15. Not much : A BIT. Neither an ocean nor a raft.

16. Hotel courts : ATRIA. Plural of ATRIUM - an open court, often several stories high. ATRIA are also heart chambers. There is a hotel chain called ATRIA in India. I want to hear Tony Bennett sing "I Left My Heart in Banglore."

20. Little one : TOT.

21. __-tzu : LAO. One of many variant spellings for the name of the author of the Tao Te Ching. He said, "A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving." But I'll bet he always appreciates a nice ATRIUM.

22. On the calmer side : ALEE. The side of the boat that is sheltered from the wind, no matter what color.

28. Headache : WOE. A bit of an oblique meaning, I think. But in my experience, a headache truly is a WOEful thing.

29. WSJ headline : LBO. Leveraged Buy Out, as reported in the Wall Street Journal. The specialty of vulture capitalists. Note Abbrv. in cl. & ans.

30. __ rock: music genre : ALT. Alternative. What - no abbrv?!? My daughter was an alternative music fan before she came out of the country closet. (sigh)

31. Faux pas : NO NO. A mistake, or a taboo. No, No, Nanette, thou shalt not faux upon thy pas. Why not? Je ne sais pas!

33. Bars with hidden prices? : UPC. Not a tavern with a mystery tab. Universal Price Code. TRES clever.

35. Evensong? : TAPS. Back to my youth again. This signaled the end of the day at Boy Scout Camp.

43. Wed. vis-à-vis Thu. : YEST. YEST? Do you jest? Can't find this abbrv for YESTERDAY on The Google.

44. Reed of The Velvet Underground : LOU. Doot-doot. Doot-doot-da-doot-doot-doot.

45. Expel, as lava : SPEW.

47. Western treaty gp. : OAS.. Organization of American States.

50. Periods prec. soccer shootouts : OTS. Over Times precede shootouts. Sadly, this aberration has also infested hockey.

52. Before, poetically : ERE. Abel was I ERE I got Cained.

58. French city mostly destroyed in 1944 : CAEN. The ravages of war.

59. Golf's Woosnam : IAN. Not a golf fan, so this seems a bit obscure. Is Gareth giving us a rough time, or is he treating us in a fair way?

60. Tyler of "Jersey Girl" : LIV. I always think of her as Arwen Undomiel.

67. Athena's shield : AEGIS. The handiwork of Hephaestus, blacksmith to the gods. "...and among them went bright-eyed Athene, holding the precious AEGIS which is ageless and immortal: a hundred tassels of pure gold hang fluttering from it, tight-woven each of them, and each the worth of a hundred oxen." I think Homer Simpson said that.

68. "__ chic!" : TRES. "Very smart" At the height of fashion

69. File's partner : RANK. The individual members of an organization, irrespective of leadership. The phrase comes from the RANKS and files of soldiers in formation. Back in my youth, we had them in marching band, too.

70. Actor Milo : O'SHEA. He was in The Dream Team. But the only part I can remember clearly is the one played by Peter Boyle.

71. Holiday tubers : YAMS. Not at all poisonous, these tubers are common in Asia, Africa, South America, and - yes, Oceania. They are not the same thing as sweet potatoes.

72. __-Ball : SKEE. An arcade game in which the player rolls balls up an incline and attempts to get them to fall into a hole. Not a bad game, but I prefer Calvinball.

Down:

1. Brolly user's garment : MAC. Since a brolly is an English umbrella, I assume MAC refers to a Mackintosh raincoat, made from rubberized fabric to repel water. First sold in 1824, the coat is named for its Scottish inventor, Charles Macintosh. The careful reader will notice the two names are spelt differently. This is mysterious, and we just have to live with it.

2. __ Jima : IWO. A Volcanic island that was a critical WW II battle site.

3. '20s White House nickname : CAL. Calvin Coolidge. I think he might have invented calvinball.

4. 1997 ecological protocol city : KYOTO. The KYOTO protocols set binding limits on 37 countries for greenhouse gas emissions.

5. Gustatory sensor : TASTE BUD. Flavor receptors n the tongue. They have their own map. Note that kissing is sweet.

6. Blood typing abbr. : ABO.

7. Sight site : RIFLE. Another clever clue. A sight is a visual aiming aid on a gun.

8. Bilingual Canadian city : OTTAWA. Never been there. I went to Montreal once, and most everybody there spoke English. Beautiful and lively place.

9. John who explored the Canadian Arctic : RAE. Learning moment. He was a Scottish Dr. who explored Northern Canada. The Inuit nicknamed him Aglooka, "he who takes long strides." Not this guy.

10. Openly hostile : AT WAR. I'm pretty sure we've never been AT WAR with Oceania.

11. Showy extra : FRILL.

12. Like tridents : TINED.

13. Marquis de __ : SADE. The eponym for sadism. Lovely man. Just don't get too close to him.

18. Three-sixty in a canoe : ROLL. Three sixty is a full circle. Do it like this.

19. Coyote call : HOWL.

23. Grain beard : AWN. If I see this 500 more times, I might remember it.

24. Suffering from vertigo : WOOZY. I put in DIZZY.

25. Legendary skater Sonja : HENIE. Don't try this at home. At least 360 360's.

26. "Ixnay!" : NOPE. Negatory, good buddy.

27. Sgt. Snorkel's dog : OTTO. From Beetle Bailey

32. Covert __: spy stuff : OPS. Operations. My step-son Tom is in Air Force Special Ops. I have no idea what he does.

34. Disney frame : CEL. A single cartoon frame, from the time when animation was all done by hand.

36. Some mag spreads : ADS.

37. Flat hand, in a game : PAPER. Not familiar with this expression. Is this a hand that is so bad the cards aren't worth the paper they're printed on?

38. __ Khan: "The Jungle Book" tiger : SHERE. This Disney villain is no Tigger.

40. Elemental bit : ATOM. The building block of chemistry.

41. Judgment Day : DOOM.

42. Blow away in competition : OUT CLASS.

46. Pint-size : WEE.

48. Low-pH substance : ACID. A molecule usually characterized by an ionizable hydrogen atom

49. Crudely built home : SHANTY.

51. Switchblade : SHIV.

53. Tables-on-the-street restaurants : CAFES.

54. "__-Ho": Dwarfs song : HEIGH. Another irresistible Disney tune.

55. Non-mainstream film : INDIE. Independent. Not associated with a major studio.

56. Prefix with mural : INTRA. Within the walls of an institution, like sports competitions within a school.

57. Civil rights activist Medgar : EVERS. He was a WW II veteran and field secretary for the NAACP who was murdered in 1963 by a member of the White Citizens Council.

58. "Farewell, cara mia" : CIAO. Hasta la vista, baby.

62. Metaphor words : IS A. The eye is a mirror of the soul.

63. Skirt line : HEM.

64. Asian plow puller : YAK. That's a lot of bull.

65. Vague pronoun : ONE. Or a specific pronoun, if you're THE ONE

66. Hawaiian strings : UKE. ONE last musical Disney moment.

Answer grid.

Fine. A fine musical excursion without too many sour notes. I always enjoy Gareth's puzzles, and this one seemed especially well done. Hope you liked it as much as I did.

Cheers!
JzB