Friday, November 9, 2012, Marti DuGuay-Carpenter

Theme: Name your state, briefly and self-referentially!

This latest effort from marti I found  both really easy and really hard.  Looking back after it is all done, it seems really easy, but there was no way to benefit from deducing the key was the abbreviation system implemented by the US Post Office in 1963 when zip codes were also added to our mail. Trivia warning, the only state to ever change is Nebraska which went from NB to NE. Anyway, the puzzle had some new stuff, a ton of music inspiring and inspired cluing and a hint which did not help me at all. I saw Florida, Colorado, Arkansas, Oregon, and North Dakota, but it was only after the perps did I see where the last three theme answers hid the state. The puzzle used a mirror image of the clues to go from front to back. Some short fill for a Friday, but who would want to nit pick a marti, with not an "A" word in the bunch. Time to do it. 

17. FL? : FLYING START. Once you see it, the clue is simple, but you cannot get there without the perps, at least not for the first one. FL which is the two letter code for Florida (my home sweet home) is in fact the "start" of the word FLYING. 

28A. CO? : COLD FRONT. Now I am feeling confident, as front, like start is another way of saying the abbreviation begins the word. So Colorado is cold. But wait, she will not make it that easy...

35A. AK? : BREAKING HEART. The AK is  the "heart" of the clue and of the puzzle. A really self-referential clue for our own heartrx..

43A. OR? : RAZOR BACK. This one is the opposite direction as OR is the back of the word RAZOR.

56A. ND? : GRAND FINALE. Also the end of the word, so there is perfect balance with the two first theme answers beginning the first word, and the two last ending the first word. The two "beginning" abbreviations are in the first two spots, and the two "ending" abbreviations are in the last two spots. Elegant?  Designed on purpose?  I think so...

And the hint,

6A5. Kind of secret represented by each two-letter puzzle clue? : STATE. They are secrets because the state abbreviations are all 'hidden' within the fill. 

Across:

1. Post-op regimen : REHABilitation.  These days, most think of drugs with rehab, though sadly often after the physical rehab, comes the other for stopping the pain-killers.

6. Ligurian capital : GENOA. The Italian RIVIERA.

11. Pepper, e.g.: Abbr. : SGT. No, not a doctor, a Lonely Heart's Club BAND. Which is not acid rock even thought it includes Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Mini-theme marti?

14. End of ___ : AN ERA. You think with A-Rod down, Jeter hurt and the rest aging badly this is it for the Yankees?

15. "Paper Moon" co-star : O'NEAL. Tatum, daughter of Ryan and ex-wife of John McEnroe.

16. Fight sound : POW. Just ask Adam West.

19. A single might get you one : RBI. A nice baseball reference for our fearless leader. 

20. Tops : AT MOST. This will cost you $20.00, tops; don't believe it..

21. Herr's home : HAUS. German lesson, Mister: House. A hint of more German to come.

22. Like always : AS USUAL.

25. One with an inflamed "I" : EGOIST. A classically witty pun on the inflamed eye. and its down counter part, 25D. I can follow them : EFGH. A four letter string!!

27. Legal matter : RES. Latin for "thing"; thanks miss m. 41A. Doohickey : THING. A non legal term.

31. Increasing in vol. : CRESCendo.  It is legitimate in the DICTIONARY. So take your nits and stick em where the sun don't shine.

34. Swiss peak : EIGER. Do you all Sanction this clue? We all know marti likes to ski the Alps.

40. Twist of a sort : IRONY. Dr. Brennan does not like it when it is confused with COINCIDENCE.(0:08). But wait, 13D. Little wrench : TWIST. Like THIS? (2:46) Also  from the 60's.

47. Dixie Product : CUP. They make excellent telephones.

48. Not at all light : SOLEMN.

49. Gets going after a crash : REBOOTS. Computer, not car.

52. ___ rock : ACID. Also known as psychedelic rock, from the LSD era, where the instrumental work was important than the lyrics.  so many to choose from; maybe a little of THIS.(3:57). Your choices?

53. Harum-___ : SCARUM. Before LSD was synthesized to mess with young minds, there was ELVIS. (2:07).

55. Blubber : SOB.

61. Navig., for one : SCIence.  HISTORY.

62. Gourmet mushroom : MOREL. The official fungus among us, which stands up for what we believe in.

63. Sheets and such : LINEN.

64. Rocky hails : YOS.  LINK.(0:39)

66. Saw : DATED. Anyone who did LSD? Did you?

Down:

1. Battle of Britain gp. : RAF. Royal Air Force.

2. Like mil. volunteers : ENListed.

3. "What's the big idea?!" : HEY. Is for horses.

4. Recital pieces : ARIAS.

5. Language family common in southern Cameroon : BANTU. This GROUP. How do I avoid commenting on all the scholars in this field who are so cunning?

6. Split with the band : GO SOLO. Like Phil Collins and Genesis, more music miss m.

7. Fangorn Forest denizens : ENTS. Lord of the Rings.

8. How cognac is usually served : NEAT. An obvious shout out for the Tinman who thinks ice is meant for skating.

9. It fits in a lock : OAR. Fun clue.

10. Key used in shortcuts : ALT. Notice how the use of KEY in the next clue is used to confuse.

11. Wrench : SPRAIN.

12. Tank : GO BUST. Another idiom for crapping out, but after the Thursday discussion of massaging boobies, I see this response as the proper cheer while Dennis is at work.

18. Ally Financial Inc., formerly : GMAC. General Motors Acceptance Corporation, which did go bust and is now 73% owned by the US Treasury, great juxtaposition of clues.

21. Exuberant cry : HOORAH. makes me think of this LINK.

22. Pop-up path : ARC.

23. Balkan native : SERBian.

24. Tech support caller : USER, the stem word for the New Jersey favorite USE GUYS.See Rocky.

26. Do a Sunday morning church job : GREET.

29. "The Threepenny Opera" star : LENYA. Miss (CHAR)LOTTE.(3:40) The original written for her by her husband.

30. Really be into : DIG. Kurt really dug Lotte. He often was

32. Grabbed : SEIZED.. by creative passion.

33. Pool shot : CAROM. How good are you? Can you bank on your skill?

36. Band with the multi-platinum album "Follow the Leader" : KORN. The SONG..(4:29) South Park's favorite heavy metal band.

37. Liszt's "Piano Sonata ___ Minor" : IN B. The perfect MUSIC (7:28) to follow Korn.

38. Psychotic penguin in "Madagascar" : RICO.  KABOOM(1:31)?

39. Letter-shaped fastener : T-NUT.

42. Rte. finder : GPS. Global Positioning System.

43. Elaborate style : ROCOCO. How many of you remember Firesign Theater?

44. Outs : ALIBIS. It's my story and I'm sticking to it.

45. Nurturing place : CRADLE. Place for baby Charlotte.

46. Saw cut : KERF. I will leave the explaining to our resident cut ups.

48. Impertinent : SASSY. A shout out to herself!

50. Weightlifter's pride : BUILD.

51. All, to Caesar : OMNIA. Gallia in tres partes est divisa.

53. Poet Teasdale : SARA. Famous for committing suicide and this poem:

             "I Shall Not Care"

WHEN I am dead and over me bright April
Shakes out her rain-drenched hair,
Tho' you should lean above me broken-hearted,
I shall not care.
I shall have peace, as leafy trees are peaceful
When rain bends down the bough,
And I shall be more silent and cold-hearted
Than you are now.

54. Site where techs get news : CNET.

56. Execs who make trades : GMS. Not cars but athletes, General Managers.

57. Balderdash : ROT.

58. Hill worker : ANT.

59. Wrangler competitor : LEE. I get these two brands confused, who has Favre?

60. Apt puzzle answer, in this case : END. Really cute.

And in the immortal words of a hero, I am done and as always a pleasure to present a marti masterpiece and and a new pic of my baby, so Lemonade out, LINK. (0:08).

Lemonade

Thursday, November 8, 2012 Robert Fisher

Theme: "Fly by night..."

This is a "definition" type puzzle, where the same clue typically has totally different meanings in each answer.  In this case, they are all the same meaning.  But each one gets the point across in a different way.

17S. Fly : OBSERVER ON A WALL. "I'd love to be a fly on the wall when he gets the axe..." Origin.

25A. Fly : SWATTER'S TARGET. Here's how President Obama did it during a BBC interview. 0:36

42A. Fly : SPIDER'S INVITEE. "Will you walk into my parlor?" from the poem by Mary Howett.

56A. Fly : OINTMENT SPOILER. "There's a fly in the ointment..."  Just a slight drawback.

Nice theme, and I smiled at each "definition" of this annoying pest. So let's see what else Mr. Fisher has for us this week.

Across:

1. Act the troubadour : STRUM. Not my first guess.  Left it blank and came back to it.

6. Gp. that includes Venezuela : OPEC. Not my first guess. Left it blank and came back to it.

10. Show disapproval : JEER. Not my first... (Are you sensing a pattern here?)

14. Despicable character : LOUSE. ...came back to it.

15. ___ stick : POGO. Chop? Drum? Glue? Yard? Slap? Sigh....

16. Drive train component : AXLE. Yay! I finally filled in an answer.

20. End of eternity? : WYE. The letter "y" at the end of the word "eternity." Clever clue.

21. Script snippet : LINE.

22. Like some excuses : FLIMSY.

23. Seafood order : SOLE. Like this.

24. Rural valley : GLEN.

31. Lo-cal : LITE. The commercial-ese clue suggests the commercial-ese spelling for the answer.

32. Longtime Mississippi senator : LOTT. Chester Trent Lott, who served from 1989 to 2007.

33. Two-minute warning giver : REF.eree

35. From scratch : ANEW.

36. Opted for : CHOSE.

38. Twofold : DUAL.

39. Uncle Sam poster word : YOU.

40. Give it up, so to speak : CLAP. Did you ever wonder where that phrase came from? Let's give it up for The Grammarphobia Blog!

41. Church alcove : APSE.

47. Stuff : CRAM.

48. Barrel-bottom stuff : LEES. Dregs are never singular, are they?

49. Go up against : TAKE ON.

52. Smelting waste : SLAG.

53. Sailor's assent : AYE.

59. Show whose cast holds the record for the most charted songs on the Billboard Hot 100 : GLEE. It's on my Netflix list...

60. Protein-rich bean : SOYA.

61. Soft palate projection : UVULA. Ewwww...word of advice: Do NOT search for "uvula images" on google!!!

62. Between ports : ASEA.

63. It usually loses in war : TREY. The card game "War" uses a standard French deck. The "trey" is the card with a value of 3.  The only card it would beat is the 2. Hence, unlikely. (Bill G., what are the exact odds of a trey beating a deuce?)

64. Holiday hires : TEMPS.

Down:

1. Brake : SLOW. My first entry in the NW.

2. Country singer Keith : TOBY. You remember him, don't you? 4:05

3. Bit of subterfuge : RUSE.

4. Manipulate : USE.

5. Red wine choice : MERLOT. Mine would be Carménère. And not in a red solo cup, either!

6. Warmup act : OPENER.

7. Epidermal opening : PORE. Does that make it a warmup act?

8. It can be bruised : EGO.

9. Fuse into a single entity : CONFLATE. Interesting that this word comes from the Latin root word "flatus," meaning "blasts." Gives a whole new erudite meaning to flatulence, don't you think?

10. Gabfest activity : JAWING.

11. Entrance requirement, often : EXAM.

12. Plumbing bends : ELLS. Not to be confused with the 2012 Open winner Ernie.

13. Bank (on) : RELY.

18. Beastly : VILE.

19. On the qui vive : ALERT. Another interesting clue. "Qui vive" is French for "Live [short 'i'] who?"  A sentry would shout this out to an approaching person, as a short form of the question "Long live...who?"  By answering, the approaching person would reveal their loyalties.  I guess a good answer would be "The king"?

23. Jambalaya, e.g. : STEW.

24. Mustang contemporaries : GTOS.

25. More than amuse : SLAY. "You just slay me!"

26. Skid row types : WINOS. How about us carménère types?

27. Really enjoyed : ATE UP.

28. Pours messily : SLOPS.

29. Blow : ERUPT. In Latin, "erumpant" (...is that why it is called a rump?)

30. Offer with no intention of giving, say : TEASE. Oooohh...so many photos I can't link here.

34. Beat a hasty retreat : FLEE.

36. Detergent ad superlative : CLEANEST.

37. Hippocratic oath no-no : HARM. "Primum non nocere" (or, "Primum nil nocere"). "First: do no harm." Is there a doctor in the house?

38. Spot for a lectern : DAIS.

40. Data storage medium : CD ROM.

43. Summer beverage : ICE TEA.

44. "No argument from me!' : I'LL SAY.

45. Spring-___ cycle: tidal phenomenon : NEAP.

46. Watch the boob tube, say : VEG OUT.

49. Frat party wear : TOGA.

50. Has a bug, or bugs : AILS.

51. Joint sometimes replaced : KNEE. "Hip" was too short.

52. Eyelid affliction : STYE.

53. Grad : ALUM.

54. Sharp cry : YELP.

55. Distinctive periods : ERAS.

57. Hide-hair connection : NOR. We saw neither hide nor hair of CrossEyedDave for a week!

58. "To All the Girls ___ Loved Before": 1984 #1 country hit : I'VE. Albert Hammond's original version was overshadowed by Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson. 3:06

It's been real.  See you next week!

Hugs,

Marti

Note from C.C.:

Here is an adorable Halloween picture Irish Miss sent to me.

She said:

"Dahlia, dressed as Eliza Doolittle after her transformation, is my 10 year-old great, great niece and Amelia, dressed as Cat-woman, is my 5 year-old great-niece."