Friday, November 2, 2012, Gail Grabowski

THEME: "IN URE FACE!"

In the two across theme answers,  the letters URE are added to the last word of a familiar two word phrase; in the two down clues, they are added to the end of the first word. If you are like me, you have always had trouble distinguishing INURE from ENURE. Anyway, Gail is a very prolific constructor both by herself and with others, with her LAT output way over 100. Here is one of C.C.'s early INTERVIEWS. I found this to be a simple theme and puzzle, with some of her classic style showing through and maybe a couple of nits to pick;  let's plunge.

17A. Stallone’s garden supply?: MACHO MANURE. (11) I bet this was the seed entry as the juxtaposition of a Macho Man being full of.. well, I guess I can say "manure" is a great visual. 

56A. Santa’s risky undertaking?: ROOF VENTURE. (11) A nice shout out to our dear workhorse Argyle, as a simple Vent in a Roof almost becomes an adventure.

11D. Movie about artificially grown bacteria?: CULTURE FILM.  (11). Nice cross discipline clue with the chemistry lab mixing with cult films to give us some high brow entertainment.

25D. Fast-talking salesman’s training materials?: PRESSURE KIT. (11). From high brow to high pressure, and with the campaign raging and the media in a frenzy looking for something to write when they get their press kit, this is timely.

ACROSS:

1. Bright-eyed: ALERT. Not bushy tailed.

6. Student of Socrates: PLATO. SPA being the acronym to remember the order of teacher and student of the big three in Greek philosophy. 

11. “The Mentalist” network: CBS. I really hope they get rid of the Red John crap finally, now that we saw his face, and just have a fun mystery show.

14. Cut over: RE-SAW. Well, if you were going to saw a log, that would not be the same as

15. Get ready to surf: LOG ON. Surfing the web not the ocean.

16. Last word?: Abbr.: ULTimate. 

19. Halifax head: LOO. The British influenced Canadian province, where you do not go to a bathroom or a rest room.

20. Lively dance: CONGA. I linked this dance a few weeks a go. Not to be confused with another lively dance, 32D. Hand-holding group dance: HORA. Can you do THIS. (1:38).

21. Cage, for one: ACTOR. Nicholas who is born a Coppola.

23. Movie theater appliances: POPPERS.  Did we like the MOVIE? (2:30).

27. Casually mention, with “to”: ALLUDE.

28. Sacred structure: SHRINE. 

29. Buck: DOLLAR. Our homage to marti's buccaneer pun from last Friday.

31. Influential sports figure: AGENT.  Show me the MONEY.(2:30).

32. Brewery flavoring: HOPS.  A shout out to my brewer boys.  The key to the beer.

33. Beginning to cure?: PEDI. NIT number one, I like the clue but not in this puzzle; marti? Jerome? SJSJ? Gareth? C.C.?

36. French article: LES. Means The, plural masculine.

37. Lacking: SHORT OF. Oh, now we have to stoop to short JOKES. (2:11)

40. To benefit: FOR. See ENURE.

41. Cubs’ spring training city: MESA.

43. Prominent periods: ERAS. Add an "E" and you have 63A. Eliminate: ERASE.

44. Cádiz cohort: AMIGO.  Notice the similarity of Spanish to French for the word friend, here you add GO but do not collect $200.00. 

46. Post office flier: US FLAG. Wonderful visual clue.

48. Allied leader: STALIN. Tricked you with that one as Joe was one of the big boys in WWII.

49. “Gave it my best”: I TRIED.

51. News source since Dec. 1881: LA TIMES. I love these inside references, but we need to remember this.

52. Musical inadequacy: NO EAR. My choir teacher insisted I lip sync because not only was I bad, I made everyone around me bad. He said I was tone deaf and pitch black.

53. Feudal lord: LIEGE. As an aside, the term HOMAGE comes from the ceremony whereby fealty was pledged to the Lord.

55. Wine flavoring: OAK. From the casket, I presume, not ground up and put in a blender with the grapes.

62. First name in dictators: IDI. Amin, we are sick of hearing about this guy. I really min it.

64 Ryder rival: U-HAUL. We used Penske to move my son.

65. WWII carrier: LST. Landing Ship, Tank. They were built to immediately off load on a beach.

66. Domingo, e.g.: TENOR. What a VOICE. (3:18) I love the Spanish sub-titles.

67. Hides: PELTS. Another classic misdirection. Animal hides not a hiding animal.

DOWN:

1. Hand holder?: ARM. I really like this misdirection, took me a while to finger it out.

2. Rural expanse: LEA. Also can be called a PASTURE.

3 Changed-my mind key: ESC. For me it is the DEL key. 

4. Encouraging word: RAH. Rah ree, kick 'em in the knee, rah rah rass, kick 'em in the other knee.

5. Unsolicited opinion: TWO CENTS. You think after all these years of inflation, we might have to put our two dollars worth in the conversation?

6. Doesn’t wing it: PLANS. Like all good Corner bloggers, right Argyle, melissa, marti....

7. Like a boring lecture, probably: LONG. Or at least they seem long, right D.T.?

8. Río contents: AGUA. Rio is river, agua is water.

9 A.L. East team, on scoreboards: TORonto. The Blue Jays of baseball.

10. Low tie: ONE ALL. This was harder to see than it should have been. 1-1.

12. Lineage: BLOOD. Blood of my blood; this reminds me of the great love story of DAENERYS & DROGO (2:29) (r-rated).

18. Seconds: MORE. Mommy I want more! So, we have 39D. Add some meat to: FATTEN UP. C'mon eat up, we have to put some meat on those bones.

22. Storm harbinger: CLAP. I had this fill from the perps, and my first thought made no sense, then I realized she meant of Thunder.

23. Old Testament poem: PSALM.

24. Wistful remark: OH GEE. Not to be confused with the CW staple OGEE.

26. Jewelry item: PIN. Do college boys still "pin" their sweethearts? I did not mean to the mat....

27. To boot: ALSO. Is this a regional PHRASE? 

29. Dome cover: DO RAG. Ah, the dome as head, like in chrome dome.

30. Drops (out): OPTS.

34. Oater orphan: DOGIE. Remember all those lost little motherless calfs (calves?) from the 50's westerns. 

35. Mashie and niblick: IRONS. Old names for golf clubs, the woods were Brassies and Spoons; not like 57D. Source of iron: ORE. 

38. Decided in court: HELD. Welllll, it is more complicated than that, but a judge's ruling is a holding.

42. Kolkata’s locale: ASIA. We just had this spelling of Calcutta earlier in the week.

45. Avril follower: MAI. No not LAVIGNE, simply April and May in French. 

47. Polecat kin: FERRET. I was not aware of this, but the perps helped me ferret out the answer.

48.  Saltimbocca herb: SAGE.  Jumps in the mouth in Italian (Bocca like boca raton in French it is Bouche). The RECIPE.

49. How much sautéing is done: IN OIL. Apparently we have reached the cooking part of the puzzle as the recipe requires sautéing the veal in oil.

50 Warty amphibians: TOADS. For all the ladies who have kissed one to find her prince:

And then, after:

 51. Subject for Archimedes: LEVER.  "Give me a place to stand and with a lever I will move the whole world." More GREEK today.

53. Buyer’s aid: LOAN. Which often can lead to foreclosure.

54. “Based on that ...”: IF SO.

58 With 13-Down, errand runner’s destination: THE. 13. See 58-Down: STORE.

59 2002 Chapter 11-filing flier: UAL. United Airlines. Why a 2002 one? Then again, why 61 D. 2002 British Open champ: ELS, who also won the Open (no need to say British Open) in 2012.

60 Track: RUT.  They were made by the wagon wheels in the old westerns. Well, I guess I may be in a rut but it lead to the end of the write up, so I guess it is time to pack my wagon and hit the trail, my first write up as a grandfather; thank you all for the kind words and thoughts and C.C. for helping me share my joy. 

Notes from C.C.:

1) Final installment of JD's Italy trip: Pompeii and Sorrento. Click here for more pictures. Thanks for sharing with us your trip, JD.

2) Splynter is safe and sound. He got power back late yesterday afternoon. Welcome back, Yellowrocks! Now we need Dave to show up. 

Thursday, November 1, 2012 David Poole

Theme: Couch Potato. The circles within the theme entries spell out various cable TV options. So get your bowls of popcorn ready, but don't fight over the remote!

17A. "All Summer Long" singers : BEACH BOYS. I was a real fan in my early teens. Here is their version. 2:07 In the circles, we find HBO, or Home Box Office, which is owned by Time-Warner.

22A. Ibsen classic : A DOLL'S HOUSE. I just recently re-read this play.  SHOwtime is owned by CBS. My favorite SHO would be "Weeds."

38A. Early Shakespearean tragedy : TITUS ANDRONICUS. For some reason, I always want to spell this one as "Titus Andromeda." USA is owned by NBC.  Favorites here inclue "Monk."

48A. New England order : CLAM CHOWDER. Something you can never get in Manhattan is a good chowdah! AMC Networks was formerly known as "American Movie Classics," but they are moving away from that image, and are introducing new programming.

And the unifier:

61A. Wire fasteners, and a hint to this puzzle's circled letters : CABLE TIES. Also known as "zip ties", they are handy when you need to tie a bunch of electronic cords and cables together under your home entertainment system!

Marti here, for your Thursday entertainment. I can't compete with HBO, SHO, USA or AMC, but I'll give it my best shot!

Across:

1. That-funny link : WASN'T. I'm a glass half full kind of person, so I initially wanted "WAS SO."

6. Assistance : AID.

9. Tread heavily : TROMP. "Tramp" would work, too, no?

14. Name in cosmetics : ESTEE. Lauder. Nailed it!

15. Droid, e.g. : PDA. Personal Digital Assistant. We just got our new iPhone 5s today, and they come with "Siri."  She brings PDA to a whole new level, but she kind of creeps me out...

16. Sine or secant : RATIO. David Poole is a mathematician, so this was a no-brainer for him. Me? Not so much...

19. Name of two presidents : ADAMS. John Adams was the second president, and his son John Quincy Adams was the sixth president.

20. Foot the bill for : BANKROLL.

21. Egyptian underworld boss? : OSIRIS. "Lord of the Dead"

24. Steep-sided valley : RAVINE.

28. Available without an Rx : OTC. Over The Counter. Or, "Heart"? (Sorry...insider joke)

29. Electron home : ATOM. A Neutron walks into a bar...

30. Paraphernalia : GEAR.

33. Tough watchdog : AKITA. Yeah, right...my cats would have him for lunch!

41. Process start : STEP A.

42. Not e'en once : NE'ER. Poetic "even" and "never"

43. "Sure!" : LET'S. Have you ever regretted saying that?  I'd like to hear the story...

44. Wire service abbr. : UPI. United Press International. Once a giant in the newswires, photo and film industry. Now, not so much.

46. Fairlady automaker : DATSUN. I never knew about this brand.

54. Imposed : LEVIED.

55. Bothersome type : HEADACHE.

60. Visibly stunned : AGASP. (David used an "A" word, David used an "A" word...)

62. Indian yogurt dip : RAITA. David is a gourmet cook, so I bet he has made this condiment.  I love the cucumber-mint variety.

63. Rhyming boxer : ALI. "It will be a killer, and a chiller, and a thriller, when I get the gorilla in Manila..." 

64. Tag line? : NOTIT. Hand-in-hand with 25-Down. Working away : ATIT. Fire away, all ye DF bloggers!

65. ___ & Bacon: textbook publisher : ALLYN. I wonder if they were the company that published David's math text?

66. Favorite : PET.

67. "Fun, Fun, Fun" ride for the 17-Across : T-BIRD. Another blast from the past with my fav teenage group.

Down:

1. Friday on the air : WEBB. Sergeant Joe, that is, from the old "Dragnet" TV show.

2. On a steamer, say : ASEA.  (David used an "A" word, David used an "A" word...)

3. Getz of jazz : STAN. With John Coltrane: priceless! 9:00 (And worth every second!)

4. Get romantic, in a way : NECK.

5. Imam Khomeini International Airport locale : TEHRAN.

6. Speed skater ___ Anton Ohno : APOLO. I keep wanting to spell his name "Apollo"

7. Pastoral poem : IDYLL.

8. Marx's "___ Kapital" : DAS.

9. Oscar's place : TRASH CAN. I wanted something to do with "The Academy," but it wouldn't fit. D'oh~! Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street!

10. Fireside chat medium : RADIO. FDR's radio broadcasts to the US from 1933-1944, leading up to and then in the midst of the troubles in Europe.

11. Hokkaido seaport : OTARU. Map. On Japan's second-largest island.

12. Actress Rogers et al. : MIMIS. I did not recognize her. Anyone know who she played in film that I might know?

13. Western party : POSSE. Cute clue!

18. Barrio food store : BODEGA. Could also be a wine store...but, come to think of it, that would be one of the major FOOD groups, right?

21. München-to-Wien heading : OST. Munich - to - Vienna direction is OST in German, or "east" in English. Travelled that road many times!

23. "The Maltese Falcon" actor : LORRE. Peter, with Humphrey Bogart in one of my favorite roles!

24. Stinkers : RATS.

26. Swing ___ : VOTE. Yours might just be the one, coming up on Tuesday. So get out and vote!

27. "Hand me a bat!" : I'M UP.

31. Film composer Morricone : ENNIO. You might recognize this one...2:59

32. Country Time suffix : ADE. Make summer last all year with Country Time LemonADE ! (And one of our favorite bloggers on Friday...)

34. Tartan wraparound : KILT. What do they wear underneath those?

35. Works on a cake : ICES. Is the "writer of creamy messages," in other words.

36. "Fantasia" hippo's wear : TUTU. Adorable.

37. Professional org. : ASSN. Association.

39. Kitchen utensil : SAUCE PAN. Hands up for "sauce pot"? I put saucep--,  and then skidded to a halt while I waited for perps.

40. Tough row to hoe : ORDEAL.

45. High deg. : PHD. Abbreviation of the Latin "Philosophiæ Doctor" or, "Doctor of Philosophy"

47. Hot-blooded : ARDENT.

48. One of California's Santas : CLARA. Not Claus or Argyle...

49. Sanctioned : LEGAL. I tried "legit" at first.

50. Prove useful : AVAIL. "When a scholar meets a soldier, he may have reason on his side, but to no avail." (Unknown author)

51. Teary-eyed : MISTY.

52. Pequod sinker : WHALE. Yes, indeed, the great white whale did "do in" the Pequod. 2:45

53. Payment option : DEBIT...or credit? And 57-Down. Credit card name with a red arc over it : CITI.

56. Short range : ATOB. What's a tob, you ask?  Point A - to - B.

58. One who gets what's coming : HEIR. A clue that made me laugh out loud when I finally "got" it.

59. Business sign abbr. : ESTD. "Established."

61. Uniform item, perhaps : CAP. Wanted "hat", but had to wait for perps.

That's it for this week. See you same time, same place, next Thursday!

Hugs,

Marti

Notes from C.C.:

1) Part VII of JD's Italy trip: Rome

Ruins of the ancient city of Ostia, which was the gateway and port city to Rome. Yes, those were toilets.

Click here for more pictures. I intended to put picture #2 here, but had trouble getting it here.

2) Happy Birthday to Carol! I like this picture a lot.

JD, Dick & Carol
Seated in front of lily pond at Sunset Botanical Gardens