Friday, December 07, 2012, Gary J. Whitehead

Theme: The reverse "A" word!

Each of the two across and two down two word phrases have an "A" added to the "end" of the second word (all have 3 letters), as well as revealed in a central unifier. This is our second 2012 offering from Gary, and my first time writing about his creation. In honor of yesterday's Roy Campanella reference, this puzzle reminded me of that other Hall of Fame backstop, Yogi Berra and his comment that "This feels like deja vu all over again."  It was a mere 14 days from marti's "append ix" and here we have Add an end A. (addenda) which is a nice word lawyers like to use with contracts. Overall, the puzzle was not easy,  a pangram (2 Js!) to whet your creative juices, some nice music references which I actually knew and some clues I was confused about, but I finished, so here goes our Friday frolic.

20A. Enjoying "O patria mia"? : HEARING AIDA. (11) When you get older you may need a hearing aid to listen to opera.

59A. Whomping actor Eric? : SMOKING BANA (11). Giving up cigarettes would not have helped.

I think the link gives a good idea of the definition of 'whomping.' It is Eric Bana getting whomped by Mr. Pitt.

11D. Supply electricity to a California city? : POWER NAPA.(9)  This sounds like a rest for our Italian friends. I am sure we all know the area because of the wine.

35D. Spot a flamboyant singer? : SIGHT GAGA (9)That would be a knee slapper. More MUSIC.(4:40) from the Lady.

and the reveal:

40A. Contract extras, and read differently, a hint to this puzzle's theme : ADDENDA. (7) ADD END A.

Across:

1. Family nickname : MAMA. I never used this for mine, but then again, we used real nicknames as my brother Barry liked creating them. To me this name is what dolls say when the girls pull their strings.

5. Wharton hero : FROME. I am not sure hero is the correct word for Ethan, as he wants to cheat on his wife, agrees to a suicide pact with the girlfriend and then chickens out only to leave them both partially paralyzed and dependent on the wife to care for both of them.

10. Crude letters : OPEC. Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

14. One of five Norwegian kings : OLAV. I like it when they clue OLAV V, who was a fine King I am told (Spitz?, Jerome?), for the VV combination.

15. Trapper's tool? : RADAR. The policeman hiding behind a billboard,  or Trapper John from M*A*S*H abusing Mr. O'Reilly?

16. Roast, in Rhone : ROTI. They speak French in the Rhone valley but I have never heard the word with "au boeuf" added, but I assume literally it meas roast of beef. Funny, we had mention of the Indian bread Roti yesterday, and of course we have anagramatic 65A. Knee-slapper : RIOT.

17. Eye sore : STYE. Really fun clue for on who has sore eyes often.

18. Invierno month : ENERO. Today we have Spanish, Invierno is winter, Enero January. We also have a clecho 33D. Solstice month : JUNE. Did anyone else see Gareth using the term over on the Fiend?

19. Nicole's "Moulin Rouge!" co-star : EWAN. McGregor, did you like this SONG? (3:46)

23. Legal title: Abbr. : ESQuire.  I was called Colonel, when I started to practice in Gainesville.

24. Artificial : ERSATZ. A wonderful word and a nice way to get Z into the pangram. Both title, Esquire and Colonel are ersatz.

25. "Night Moves" singer : SEGER. Apparently it is Bob Seger WEEK (5:26) here. Gentleman, enjoy reading the lyrics. We also have 43A. Time to retire : NIGHT. Nit anyone?

27. Some of its ads feature a pig named Maxwell : GEICO.(0:31) My middle name, also featured in Beatles' song, and classic American TV. I do not think he would like 53A. "Pork and Beans" band : WEEZER. My oldest son's favorite band back a few years. SONG.

30. Prima ___ : DONNAS. Italian for first lady, the connotation from the opera.

33. Cuban patriot Marti : JOSE. Living in South Florida a familiar name, but perhaps a toughie for most. He is revered both there and in Castro CUBA.

36. Ages : EONS.

38. Fight back, say : REACT.

39. Aussie's school : UNIversity.

42. Layer : PLY.

45. Copycat : APER.

46. Vichy waters : EAUX. The plural form of the the French EAU meaning water. Vichy is a City. Say that three times fast.

47. Kennedy and Waters : ETHELS. Two famous women, not related to my favorite, alcohol.

49. Like old apples : MEALY.

51. Character piece? : TRAIT. A nice literal clue.

57. Binge : JAG.

62. Literary collections : ANAS. A nice stand alone word used often in Scrabble when you have no good letters.

64. Amity : PEACE. The irony of the Amityville Horror, which is a true story made into a movie in 1979 and 2005.

66. Star in Lyra : VEGA. No, not a Nevada stripper wearing lycra, but another form of heavenly body.

67. Top of a form, perhaps : LINE A. A tricky one to parse.

68. Heraldry border : ORLE.  Like this

69. Furthest from the hole, in golf : AWAY. In golf, after the tee shot, you take turns in reverse order.

70. Big key : ENTER. Along with shift and backspace on a keyboard.

71. Fade, maybe : WEAR. I hope I am not wearing out my welcome on Fridays.

Down:

1. Israel's Dayan : MOSHE.  The debonair Israeli hero.

2. Let out, say : ALTER. After Thanksgiving and Christmas, what often happens to the waist in pants.

3. Builders of stepped pyramids : MAYAS. Do you all have your CALENDAR set?

4. Nothing special : AVERAGE. Just your normal end of the world predication, nothing to get

5. Frantic : FRENZIED. about.

6. Signaled one's arrival : RANG. Like the door bell.

7. Ancient theaters : ODEA. The plural of the Latin ODEUM, one built in Rome in 161 is still in use. They were meeting halls as well as places for entertainment. Interestingly we have the Greek  22D. Ancient assembly area : AGORA.

8. 1961 record breaker : MARIS. Roger who hit 61 in '61.

9. Ate at : ERODED. The attention and pressure ate at Maris and he starting losing his hair. He ended up in Gainesville as a Budweiser distributor. He seemed to be a very nice man.

10. Tram load : ORE. Not a pram, where the load is less lucrative.

12. Weather may delay them: Abbr. : ETAS. Estimated Time of Arrivals.

13. Half of dix : CINQ. The French 10/5.

21. Samson's end? : ITE. No not getting killed while pulling down the Philistine temple, but simply SAMSONITE, luggage. There is no mention of whatever happened to Delilah.

26. Compass hdg. : ENE.

28. Bars at the end : CODA. I leave all musical explanations to the experts.

29. Latish lunch hr. : ONE PM. We eat 1 or later here.

31. "Because freedom can't protect itself" org. : ACLU. American Civil Liberties Union.

32. "Come Sail Away" band : STYX. Love this TUNE.(5:51)

34. Doing the job : ON IT.

37. Bygone blade : SNEE. We just had this Sunday.

40. Rockefeller Center statue : ATLAS.  Impressive in person.

41. Approach : DRAW NEAR.

44. Every other hurricane : HER. Since 1979 we have men and women alternating names. All you need to KNOW.

46. One may be penciled in : EYEBROW. I love this clue/fill.

48. Like a piece of cake : SIMPLE.

50. Boost, with "up" : LEG.

52. Front-end alignment : TOE IN. Do we have any car mechanics to explain this?

54. "New" currency replaced by the Congolese franc : ZAIRE.

55. Gay leader? : ENOLA. The atom bomb dropping plane; you had to know there was no other PC answer.

56. Triple-A, at times : RATER. They rate hotels etc.

57. Software product with a cup-and-saucer logo : JAVA.

58. All over again : ANEW. Ah, the other kind of "A" word.

60. "Categorical Imperative" philosopher : KANT.  Immanuel actually could.

61. Slurpee alternative : ICEE. I am not linking TBBT again, we just had this last week.

63. Come out with : SAY.

I would have to say my time is up. As always, I hope the tour has been pleasant, and we have hit all the highlights, but if not I am sure you will tell us. It is the anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day, a day we should never forget.

Peace out Lemonade.

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to our philosopher/farmer Windhover (Larry),  who is an excellent runner and no doubt a good biographer! Want to see how he looked when he was 10? Click here.

Windhover, 1973

Thursday, December 6, 2012 C.C. Burnikel

Theme: "Love knows no season" 3:31

17A. Typically pink-flowered bloomer : CABBAGE ROSE.

23A. Gateway Arch architect : EERO SAARINEN.

37A. Key Egyptian artifact unearthed in 1799 : THE ROSETTA STONE.

49A. Postwar reception : HERO'S WELCOME.

And the unifier:

60. Tools of the mischievous god hidden in 17-, 23-, 37- and 49-Across : BOW AND ARROW. I highlighted him in red for all the world to see.

Mischievous, indeed.  Had it not been for EROS, I would still be part of the 11-D. Single and looking group: DATING POOL.

This is a very open grid, with only 34 blocks. Nice long down fills, too. In addition to 11-D, which I mentioned above, we have 28-D. Defroster alternative: ICE SCRAPER. A not so nice reminder about what's in store for us Northerners over the next few months, but lovely fill for a puzzle!  Let's see what other mischief C.C. will get us into.

Across:

1. Sundsvall rollers : SAABS.  Ahhh, same as last Thursday when we had "Maine-et-Loire" hinting at the French for ami.  This time, the car has been clued with more late-week difficulty by using "Sundsvall" to hint at the Swedish imports.  But unless you knew that Sundsvall is a city some 250 miles north of Stockholm, you didn't have much of a chance.

6. Trickeries : SHAMS.

11. Pops : DAD. Pa, papa, daddy, daddio...

14. Portion out : ALLOT.

15. Knighted conductor : SOLTI. Sir Georg, that is.  Here he is conducting the London Symphony in a beautiful version of Elgar: Enigma Variations. 3:45

16. Took in : ATE. Did you get taken in by this clue?

19. Paris pronoun : TOI. French for "you," with the easy hint using "Paris" as the adjective. My other guess would be "moi." (It's all about me...)

20. Title words preceding "beneath the milky twilight," in a 1999 hit : KISS ME. By the group Sixpence. 3:11.  It was a 29A: Hit, maybe: SONG.

21. "So relaxing!" : AHH.  We had our book club meeting at a day spa last week. I heard lots of "ahhs."

22. Worrisome engine sound : PING. My most worrisome sound is when I hear the mechanic say "Uh-oh" from under the hood.

26. Set straight : ALIGNED.

30. Breeders' Cup event : RACE.

31. Loses on purpose : DIETS.  Love this clue! I was thinking about someone who "throws" a game or a fight.

34. Light touch : PAT. And the nickname of my BFF.

41. Coll. applicants : SRS. Seniors applying to college.

42. Big name in beer : STROH. The company broke up in 2000, and STROH's is now brewed by Pabst.  Or so I'm told...I don't drink beer.

43. Mindless process : ROTE.

44. Manitoba tribe : CREE.

46. Blood sugar regulator : INSULIN.

53. Neutrogena rival : OLAY.

54. Like "ifs" and "buts": Abbr. : PLU.ral.

55. Throw a feast for : REGALE. I always thought this meant to make someone laugh, but it also has a broader sense of entertaining (as with a feast.)

59. Back talk : LIP.

62. Cezanne's summer : ETE. Paul Cezanne was a French post-impressionist artist. So you know you are looking for the French word for "summer."

63. Pad user : STENO.grapher.  I doubt that there is a big future for STENOs nowadays.

64. Light wash : RINSE. Very light.

65. Le counterpart, in Leipzig : DER.  Leipzig is, a German town, SW of Berlin. Map. C.C. is sending us all over Europe on this puzzle! "Le" and "DER" are the French and German words for "the."

66. Like-minded gps. : ASSNS. Associations.

67. Guide : STEER.

Down:

1. Grain holder : SACK.

2. Jai ___ : ALAI.

3. Mass robes : ALBS. Plain white robes that are worn by priests.

4. Raspy-voiced "Like a Rock" singer : BOB SEGER. Great song. 5:55

5. Where the anther is : STAMEN. I thought it wath going to be "under your nothe."

6. Dallas-to-Houston dir. : SSE.

7. Wedding dances : HORAS.

8. HI hi : ALOHA. Cute clue! HI is the abbr. for Hawaii.

9. Highest peak in the Calif. Cascades : MT. SHASTA. Calif. is abbr. because of "MT." in the ans.

10. "Sprechen ___ Deutsch?" : SIE. (Back to Leipzig!) "Do you speak German?"

12. Do a makeup job? : ATONE. Another great clue.

13. Stoop : DEIGN.

18. "Unfaithful" co-star : GERE. Richard Gere and Diane Lane co-starred.  I have not seen it, but I understand it received mixed reviews.

22. One that stands to prevent a strike : PIN. HaHa - great shout-out from C.C. to her DH "Boomer." Of course we are talking about bowling pins here. (From C.C.: This is Rich's clue. He always makes me look smarter.)

24. More strange : ODDER.

25. Soft-spoken painter Bob : ROSS. Remember "The Joy of Painting" on TV?  He was soft-spoken because he hated his previous career in the military, where he had to yell constantly.

26. Liberal subject? : ARTS.

27. 1939 Garland co-star : LAHR. Bert Lahr and Judy Garland in "The Wizard of Oz."

32. "Who am ___ say?" : I TO.

33. Moral principle : ETHIC.

35. Con : ANTI.

36. Summer intern, often : TEEN.

38. Plural medical suffix : OSES. Dermatoses, neuroses, psychoses, thromboses...

39. Stock holders? : STEW POTS.  Another fun clue!

40. John Wayne classic : TRUE GRIT. The remake in 2010 starring Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn was surprisingly well-done.

45. Campanella of Cooperstown : ROY. No clue, but I know C.C. will help me out here! (From C.C.: Roy Campanella was one of the first Black players in Major League. First Black catcher. He joined the Brooklyn Dodgers a year after Jackie Robinson did.)

Jackie Robinson, Don Newcombe, Roy Campanella

47. North of Paris : NORD. Back to Paris for more French.

48. Mascara mishaps : SMEARS.

49. Sank, in a way : HOLED. HG, have you HOLED any putts lately?

50. High class : ELITE.

51. Cary of "The Princess Bride" : ELWES. Still haven't seen this one - it's on my Netflix list, though!

52. Blond comic strip teenager : LUANN. This comic strip.

56. Secretary of Education Duncan : ARNE. Arne Duncan took over from Margaret Spellings in 2009.

57. Get whipped : LOSE.

58. Fancy pitcher : EWER.

60. Org. with Eagles : BSA. Boy Scouts of America.  Eagle scouts, that is.

61. Hardly shows of support : NOS. Like this? 0:17.

That's all I have to say, so I'll sit back now and let everyone else have the floor!

Hugs,
Marti

Notes from C.C.:

1) MT SHASTA is for Melissa, who longs to move in there eventually. I plunked it down early on (as it's an answer that crosses three theme entries) and was so pleased it worked.

2) Happy Birthday to the always cheerful and happy Lucina! Hope you're feeling better.

L-R back row: Chickie, Clear Ayes, Garlic Gal
   Front: JD, Lucina, Dodo
June 23, 2011