Friday, December 21, 2012, Jack McInturff

Theme: Get the "H" out of here!

Each of the 5 theme answers has the last word which is a CH word, recast with NO  H, (as in the hint) to create a new and visually entertaining new phrase. Jack is an old pro whose work I have had the pleasure of blogging before, though this had more than its share of little known proper names. I can hear Kazie groaning out there. There also are so many great clues/fill like SBARRO, BOBSLEDS, EAR TO EAR, BELTS IT OUT, I really enjoyed cracking this code. How many other CH words would work?  Well with no further ado....

18A. Jazz-loving surfer? : ONLINE CHAT.(9).  A 50's reference to when all who loved Jazz were hep cats, taken by removing the H from our modern online dialogue.

20A. Fort Knox transport? : BAR CHART.(7) A simple from of graphing becomes a nice picture of a cart loaded with gold bullion, like in this SCENE. (4:31).

39A. Farm job for Perry Mason? : WILD GOOSE CHASE (13) A book about a man who is arrested for running around and goosing all the women on a farm in Kentucky? Erle Stanley Gardner, who was a real judge and defender of the innocent named each of his Perry Mason books : The Case of..." For our crowd, maybe this case.

58A. USDA inspector, at times? : PORK CHOP.(7) My favorite for all the layers, police as pigs, as well picture of the meat inspectors.

60A. Insignificant woodpile? : MINOR CHORD.(9) A cord being a small amount of wood (relatively speaking, and JzB will explain the major vs. minor chords.

And a last minute hint,

62D. Kabuki native, and a hint to five puns in this puzzle : NOH, parsed NO H, but none of you needed the hint, right?


Across:

1. Ease up : ABATE. A nice A word to start.

6. Culture sites : LABS. Oh, that kind of culture.

10. Method for deciding : FLIP. An accepted brief form of flipping a coin, though you will see the sight gag of someone doing a somersault when challenged to "flip for it."

14. Recognition of achievement : MEDAL. Olympics anyone?

15. "The doctor will be ___ ten" : IN AT.

16. Red inside : RARE. What a nice simple visual clue.

17. Most of its strains are harmless : E. COLI. Interesting FACTS.

22. "Dies ___" : IRAE.

23. Zion Church letters : AME. AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL church. LINK.

24. Alien-seeking gp. : SETI. Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, phone home anyone?

26. Stromboli seller : SBARRO. What a great letter progression; who does not think they screwed up seeing SB start a word.

30. Novi Sad citizen : SERB. Immediately followed by SerB. A pretty obscure clue, though the 2nd largest city there. We have a new attorney in the office who is Serbian. Havla Bogu!

32. "Out Her on My Own" musical : FAME. Classic IRENE CARA.(3:28).

34. "Was ___ I saw yesterday...?" : IT YOU. No, I was not there. I was in Paris getting a drink. Or was it in...

35. Nice quencher : EAU. Do you still forget your French water?

37. Racers on a run : BOBSLEDS. Fine clue, as the place where bobsleds race is called a run.

42. Grin scope : EAR TO EAR.Not to be corny, but I think this is a wonderful clue.

43. Negatives : NOS. Yes, again simple.

44. Like clear winter air : CRISP.

45. Old railway operator's hat : KEPI. Also the French foreign legion, Charles DeGaulle..Not,  59D. "All day soft. All day smooth" lotion : KERI.

47. Labels : TAGS.

51. Like many audits : ON SITE. Generally done by your external auditors, but in truth it is hard to audit other than on site.

53. Lavish affection (on) : DOTE. Okay, I am ready.

55. French vineyard : CRU. The TEST is in the morning. Lots of French today.

56. Limited worker : TEMP.

64. Supervisory serf, in Chaucer : REEVE. A nice oldtimey word for the guy who enforces order among the Anglo-Saxons.

65. Last name of three related All-Stars : ALOU. Felipe, Matty and Jesus.

66. Words spoken before the Senate : ET TU. A brutal way to clue this old saw.

67. Burger and fries, say : ORDER. Often said in line, not on line.

68. 100 satang : BAHT. Wow, we get our Southeast Asian money, as this is from Thailand and next door we have 70A. Cambodian cabbage? : RIELS. Takes about 130 to get a Baht.

69. One-time Sinclair rival : ESSO. The old company with the Dinosaur and Exxon before it grew up.

Down:

1. Simple life forms : AMEBAS. Not only are we missing an H or five, but the O is gone!

2. Morphed into : BECAME. Again. good simple clue.

3. Worshiper : ADORER. A good word for this time of year.

4. Soft rock : TALC. Softest on the MOHS.

5. Walt Disney's father : ELIAS. Obscure dear old DAD.

6. "The River Murders" co-star : LIOTTA. Do not know this movie but love this SCENE. (0:17) Warning do not watch if you are squeamish.

7. Gloucester's cape : ANN.

8. Hope-Crosby road movie : BALI.

9. Affects emotionally : STIRS.

10. Noted dream-ending words : FREE AT LAST.  This DREAM.(2:51).

11. Varnish ingredient : LAC. For REAL.

12. It may be rolled over, briefly : IRA. and its counterpart in the acronym world, 61. Pier gp. : ILA. We get these longshoremen often.

13. Fondle : PET. Be careful, girls do NOT like being fondled like you do your puppy.

19. Snack company with a triangular logo : NABISCO. This clue was as sweet as an Oreo.

21. Wildlife protection area : REFUGE.

25. [Yawn] : I'M BORED. Damn, well better get yourselves up because we have more work to do.

27. Deli supply : RYES. breads, and the home of LSD.

28. Pestered without letup : RODE. The teacher rode Johnny all class.

29. Danger conclusion? : OUS. Dangerous.

31. Sings with gusto : BELTS IT OUT. Who better

33. Aurora's Greek counterpart : EOS. It took a while for this answer to dawn on me.

36. Many a parent : ADOPTER. All perps.

38. Legendary bridge expert Garozzo : BENITO. I remembered the great Italian Blue team, but not one of its MEMBERS.

39. Give notice : WARN.

40. Pupil's place : IRIS. Eye love this clue.

41. Tree with yellow ribbons, in song : OAK.

42. "Foucault's Pendulum" author : ECO. Did not know the book, apparently it is for a different audience than I. LINK.

46. Simon and Garfunkel, e.g. : POP DUO. Duo was easy but the POP was slow; is that good?

48. Submit : ACCEDE.

49. Submit shamelessly : GROVEL.

50. Building managers : SUPERS. They used to be superintendents, but they became just plain super.

52. Host : EMCEE. A variation of MC, Master of Ceremonies.

54. Overthrow, often : ERROR. A baseball clue, not a government coup.

57. Plant holders : POTS.

60. Folklore fairy queen : MAB. I love me a Shakespeare reference, thanks Mercutio.

63. Some are inalienable: Abbr. : RTS. OO, they tell you it is an abbr.  Our constitutional rights. 

Okay class, that is it from Professor Jack and I, have a wonderful holiday and do not get stuck in any chimneys, eat too many cookies or drive after drinking. I want you all back here for next week's final 2012 Friday, if the Mayan calendar is wrong.

Lemonade

Thursday, December 20, 2012 Jeff Stillman

Theme: "Like a Rolling Stone," the final theme entry words get all messed up. Each one is an anagram of "stone."

20A. Reason for detention, perhaps : PASSING NOTES.

36A. Unexpected attack, as of dizziness : SUDDEN ONSET.

43A. Melodious sounds : DULCET TONES.

57. Publication since 1967, and a hint to the end of 20-, 36- and 43-Across : ROLLING STONE.

I found this one to be much easier than last Friday's anagram puzzle. Only eight 3-letter words, so some chances for longer fresh fill. Let's see what's on the plate today.

Across:

1. Canaanite god : BAAL. Deity of agriculture and life.

5. Humiliate : ABASH. I always hesitate between ABASH and "abase."

10. Speed-of-sound ratio : MACH.

14. Play the siren : LURE. Fun clue!  I was in a police car somewhere (figuratively, not literally!)

15. Mombasa's country : KENYA. Its largest city.

16. Flash, perhaps : IDEA. Flash of "inspiration," that is. I had one, once...

17. Red states? : IRES. Another cute clue.

18. Hotel room amenities : IRONS. Wow, they provide golf clubs?!?

19. Convinced : SOLD. OK, I'm sold!

23. Fore-and-aft rigged ship : SLOOP.

24. Samson's betrayer : DELILAH.

28. "I am Fortune's fool" speaker : ROMEO. Act 3, Scene 1. Romeo has just killed Tybalt, and realizes that no matter what he does from now on, he is no longer in charge of his own destiny.

32. Dough : MOOLA.

33. Intel collector : SPY. With the short "intel," I was looking for an abbr. like CIA or FBI...then we have 54-Down. Whom to trust, per a 33-Across : NO ONE.

39. Srs.' income sources : IRAs. Now we get the abbr. in the clue, so Individual Retirement Accounts made sense to me.

41. Pedro's lucky number? : SIETE. The extent of my Spanish is counting from one to ten. Thank goodness they weren't looking for unlucky 13!!

42. Masters champ between Craig and Ben : SEVE. Craig Stadler (1982), Ben Crenshaw (1984) and Seve Ballesteros (1983.) He also won it in 1980.

46. Like Mars, apparently : RED. I dunno, what do you think?

47. Pioneering computer : ENIAC. A team of six women did most of the programming, but their role was historically downplayed.

48. Tennis great with 11 Grand Slam singles titles : NADAL. Did not know this guy. Impressive.

50. Frat party recyclable : BEER CAN. Hesitated between "keg" or CAN...perps to the rescue!

53. ___ code : PENAL.

61. Where to find a hero : DELI. Great clue!

64. Icy cold : GELID.

65. Floor plan division : ROOM.

66. Hubristic : VAIN. From the ancient Greek ύβρις, meaning extreme pride or arrogance.

67. "Hunger Games" battle setting : ARENA. I still haven't seen the movie. Am I the only one?

68. Prefix with European : INDO.

69. Put under : DRUG. Hard to suss this one.

70. Lamb creation : ESSAY. Charles Lamb, best known for his "Essays of Elia."

71. Hammer part : PEEN. More than you ever needed to know...

Down:

1. Control tower spots : BLIPS. "Beyond the Blips" article. Scary!

2. Ear-related : AURAL.

3. Playground retort : ARE SO. Now, now - play nice!

4. Rent collector : LESSOR.

5. Similar : AKIN. Not to be confused with a certain Missouri ex-Representative.

6. Cold water hazard : BERG. Do you remember the difference between a berg and a floe? Yellowrocks can remind you!

7. Before thou know'st : ANON. Cute.

8. Church council : SYNOD.

9. Cause of many a mistake : HASTE...makes waste.

10. Religious enterprises : MISSIONS. What's your position?

11. Busy goings-on : ADO.

12. Disney collectible : CEL. Short for celluloid, and now mostly abandoned as a medium since computer animation has taken over the field.

13. Hornswoggled : HAD. "I been had!"

21. NASDAQ debuts : IPOs. Initial Public Offerings.

22. Saint with a fire : ELMO. How would you like flying in this, Dudley? 0:41

25. Short-straw drawer : LOSER.

26. Anti-inflammatory brand : ALEVE. My go-to drug of choice...

27. Abominable : HATED. Aw, I can't hate this guy!

29. It's not optional : MUST.

30. Polish language : EDIT. Nice misdirection.

31. Ancient Greek theater : ODEON.

33. Hit back? : SIDE B. Nice misdirection.

34. Trim, as a tree : PRUNE. Anyone else want "adorn" at this time of year?

35. Singer in the Whiffenpoofs : YALIE. 2012 version here. 4:05

37. Italian peak : ETNA.

38. Sine qua non : NEED. Literally Latin "without which there"...is nothing.

40. Permanently marking : SCARRING. For life.

44. Danish shoe company : ECCO. This week we had UGG. Now ECCO. But neither one holds a candle to these.

45. Weakens : SAPS.

49. Deliver, as a rant : LET RIP.

51. Aquatic plant life : ALGAE. Like this. 0:31

52. Phils, e.g. : NLERS. Philadelphia Phillies, National Leagu(ers) of baseball.

55. Positive pole, perhaps : ANODE.

56. Fruit high in vitamin C : LEMON.ade, our own Friday blogger!

58. Places in la mer : ILES. French for "The Sea" and "islands." 9:29 and 9:14 (Hey, I try to do equal times here. Debussy and King Crimson.)

59. One of a historic seagoing trio : NINA. Pinta and Santa Maria were the other two ships...

60. Howdy from Adelaide : G'DAY.

61. Pirate's booty? : DVD. Like the spoils of this 92 Y.O. bada**.

62. Teacup handle : EAR. In MA, we have "teacup handle" turns at some traffic lights. You have to go right, in order to turn left. They are also called "Jug handle" turns in NJ and other northeastern states.

63. C.W. Post is its largest campus : LIU. Long Island University. Thursday level clue for early week movie actress Lucy. I believe this campus is close to Splynter.

That's all for this week!

Hugs,
Marti