Friday, January 11, 2013, Ian Livengood

Theme: The world is upside down.

Each of the six theme answers take two blocks to complete, reading from the bottom of the clued answer to the top, and then down the adjacent unnumbered fill. Visually this is a very creative and fun puzzle by one of the many young people out there. This is my second effort at deciphering an Ian Livengood special, having blogged the second of his two LA Times efforts back in February, both published in the same week. His theme then was too subtle for me, and if you read this LINK you will see the opinion is subtle themes are what make his puzzles special.(Sadly, this compendium only includes regular NY Times constructors). Much of this was easy once you got the gimmick.

1D. Weather forecast data : REPMET (start with the T and then head down from the empty square to get  TEMPER (REPMET) ATURES. They can rise and fall quite quickly here.

10D. Transporter in a shaft : ELEV (VELE) ATOR. The operator complains about his work being up and down.

29D. Two-person plank : SEE (EES) SAW. Be careful if you seesaw with a little one.

33D. Financial index : THE (EHT) DOW. The volatility of the stock market's ups and downs has made many rich and many poor. I always told my customers I could guarantee them a small fortune, if they started with a large one.

46D. Treatment seen in bedrooms : WINDOW (WODNIW) SHADES. Keep them down during your examinations Dennis.

51D. Oscillating curve :  SINE (ENIS) WAVE. I will let Fermat or Bill G. describe this smooth repititive wave.

and the unifier:

6D. What the six puzzle answers graphically represented in this puzzle have in common : THEY GO UP AND DOWN.

Across:

1. "Gnarly!" : RAD. Surfer world word.

3. In a mood : TESTY. I hope most of you did not get testy when you looked at REMET and said Wednesday Thursday, Friday!

8. Bean variety : FAVA. Used extensively in Egyptian and Greek cooking not my fave. Really COSTLY.

11. Sorority character : ETA. I love it when a three letter clue is clever, I am sure many of you thought of some wacky girl you knew back in the day.

12. Drug giant behind Valium and Klonopin : ROCHE. The USA division is part of the international Hoffman-Roche, Ltd.

13. Posh bathroom fixture : BIDET. Speaking of behinds, how many of you first saw one in a fancy hotel and had no idea what it was, turned it on and got squirted in the eye? 13D. IQ test pioneer : BINET. he did not invent the Bidet.

14. Puts out : PUBLISHES. Speaking of behinds, publishing is not what I think of when I see puts out.

16. "If on a winter's night a traveler" writer Calvino : ITALO. never heard of this JOURNALIST.

17. Top banana : MR BIG.

18. Longtime Rolling Stones bassist Bill : WYMAN. The guy playing bass. he is 76.

20. Each : PER.

21. Sushi options : EELS.

22. Feature of an old mattress : SAG. Not to be associated with Bill Wyman.

23. Dollars for quarters : RENT. A really fun play on words.

25. Fly out of Africa? : TSE TSE. Another nice play on an old regular, which is not cut in half.

27. Acorns, someday : OAK TREES. They should be MIGHTY.

30. Liqueur made from elderflowers : SAMBUCA. Elder flowers yield elderberries, but the Italian liqueur favored by my paisans is flavored with anise. It was part of my birthday gift to my friend on his 80th last weekend.

32. Realm : AREA.

33. O staff, briefly : EDS. Editors of Oprah's magazine.

35. Cravat holders : TIE PINS. We have been through the tie tac, pin controversy enough.

37. Las Vegas-to-Tijuana dir. : SSW.

38. Distort, as with false data, with "up" : HOKE. "to alter or manipulate so as to give a deceptively or superficially improved quality or value (usually followed by up  ): a political speech hoked up with phony statistics." Oh, I get it, from HOKUM.

40. Scroll source : DEAD SEA. Both misleading and accurate. Papyrus also fits.

42. Like part of a special delivery? : TWIN BORN.

44. "I'm With Stupid" T-shirt markings : ARROWS. Fun clue.

47. Linguist Chomsky : NOAM. A very important person in the 60's and 70's LINK.

48. Headphone wearers, usually : DJS. Disc Jockeys.

50. Literary honey lover : POOH. Winnie.

51. Flock member : EWE. But not you.

52. "You can ___ horse..." : LEAD A. Horse to water but you can't make him do the dishes.

54. Nintendo princess kidnapped by Ganon : ZELDA.

55. Alvin, Simon and Theodore : NAMES. Chipmunks just will not fit!!!

57. Tinseltown : MOVIE LAND. eh.

59. The Donald's first : IVANA. Mother of model Ivanka.

60. Whacks : SWATS.

61. Concern on the course : LIE. A double entendre, the lie of the ball on the grass,  as well as the lie of how many strokes your opponent had.

62. Canonical hour : SEXT. From the Latin for the SIXTH hour.

63. First stage : ONSET.

64. Pet store reactions : AWS. I am speechless.

Down:

2. Work casually : DABBLE. I often dabble.

3. Pre-calc course : TRIG.onometry. More for our math whizzes, not related to Whizzer White.

4. Goddess of the morning : EOS. We just had her two weeks ago.

5. Unstressed vowel sound : SCHWA.

7. Backwoods agreement : YES'M. Hey, it is just respect, not backwoods.

8. Match : FIT. This simple fill gave me fits.

9. Aids for a bad 8-Down : ADAPTERS.

15. Rolls at sea : LISTS.

19. Where Hope may be found : ARKANSAS.  The LIST.

22. Feature of some apses : SEMI-DOME.

24. Gp. with many hunters : NRA. National Rifle Association.

26. Picked up a lap? : SAT. Cute.

28. Alkali neutralizer : ACID.

31. Keg filler : BEER. Obligatory shout to my boys.

34. Late-night adult programming airer, facetiously : SKINEMAX. really fun clue for soft core Cinemax.

36. Sunday msg. : SERmon.

39. Roxy Music alum : ENO. Watch and LISTEN.(4:08)

41. Adrien of cosmetics : ARPEL. Estee, Helena and on and on.

43. Hobbyist's wood : BALSA. Dennis can explain why this wood is a favorite.

45. "Yowzah!" : OO LA LA. This is how I learned FRENCH. (3:57).

49. Diner cupfuls : JAVAS.

53. Playground reply : AM SO. AM NOT!

54. Twist at a bar : ZEST. The appealing name for the peel.

56. Med. specialty : ENT. Ear Nose & Throat

58. Mineral suffix : ITE. Not sure why, but BAUXITE comes to mind.

Thank you Ian for a new twist on the grid, and standing us on our heads to get this one done. For the rest, January is going quickly so go out into the 80+ weather and enjoy.  Oh, that is only here, my bad. See you all next time, thanks for the week off C.C. ladies, I did my best. L714 out.

Thursday, January 10, 2013 Jennifer Nutt

Theme: "Snug as a Bug in a Rug"

17-Across. *Design pattern on some Irish crosses : CELTIC KNOT. Beautifully intricate design. This is the only non-phrase theme entry.

23-Across. *Not surprising : TO BE EXPECTED.

53-Across. *Ready to come clean : TIRED OF LYING.

61-Across. *Got some gumption : GREW A SPINE.

3-Down. *Intend when speaking : MEAN TO SAY.

34-Down. Correcting, in a way...or what would need to be done to remove the things hidden in the answers to the starred clues? : DEBUGGING. Debugging computer programs is a tedious process, and sometimes is not complete, even after the software is released.

Cute theme with all the hidden "bugs." I loved how each of the hidden insects spanned at least two different words. WASP spans three. I got a hint to the theme early on when I had CELTICK*** filled in. "TICK" just popped out at me, so I started looking for other bugs in the theme entries. Jennifer Nutt usually offers us Monday-Tuesday puzzles. This one seemed to have really easy fill, with some tricky Thursday clues.

Marti here, to try to explain those things that may have been bugging you!

Across:

1. Jon of "Mad Men" : HAMM. He won a Golden Globe for playing Don Draper.

5. Site of the volcano Olympus Mons : MARS. It kind of resembles something out of Greek myth, don't you think?

9. Mosque official : IMAM. Then we have 33-Across. Church leader : ELDER.

13. Double Stuf treat : OREO.

14. Downwind : ALEE.

15. Hells Canyon is on its western border : IDAHO. Beautiful area!

16. Switch from a bottle to a cup, say : WEAN.

19. "Migrant Mother" photographer Dorothea : LANGE. More about this poignant photograph here.

21. Q7 automaker : AUDI.

22. Mop & ___ : GLO.

27. Carpenter's accessory : TOOLBOX. Shout-out to Splynter!

29. Event in many 30-Across : SALE.

and...

30. Newspaper inserts : ADS. I took advantage of 70-80% off sales last weekend on my annual clothing spree...some of my bargains were from 42-Across. Retailer Strauss : LEVI. I bought a couple pair of LEVIs with sequins on the back pockets - "If ya can't hide it, decorate it!"

31. Tizzy : SNIT.

37. Stray : ROAM.

39. Monetary interest : STAKE. Probably from the practice of miners marking the borders of their claims with stakes.

43. Use a lever on, as a floorboard : PRY UP.

45. Org. with bowls : NCAA. National Collegiate Athletic Association.

47. Chem cousin : BIO.logy and chemistry.

48. Rainbow goddess : IRIS. Shout-out to Blue Iris!

51. Battery partner : ASSAULT.

56. Place for a ring : EAR.

57. Have on : WEAR.

58. Vague : FOGGY.

65. Bog down : MIRE.

66. Voice of the difficult homeowner in "Up" : ASNER. Ed. Cute animated film.

67. Chief Justice Warren : EARL. The 14th Chief Justice, he died in 1974. Most noted for ending segregation in schools.

68. Told about, as a secret : IN ON.

69. Try to lose : DIET. Are your New Year's resolutions still on track?

70. Apothecary's measure : DRAM. Equal to 1/8 oz.  Also, a wee bit of whiskey.

71. Soufflé essentials : EGGS.

Down:

1. Bay in the woods : HOWL. Unnerving sound, if you are camping in those woods.

2. Zone : AREA.

4. Genghis Khan, notably : MONGOL.

5. Jobs creation : MAC. Steve Jobs, founder of Apple.

6. Sierra Nevada, e.g. : ALE. This one really had me going, since I don't drink beer. The brewer is located in Chico, CA.

7. "Calm down" : RELAX.

8. Frame jobs : SET UPS.

9. Textspeak disclaimer : IDK. I don't know what this means...do you?

10. Itchy canine ailment : MANGE. Along with the TICKs in the theme entry?

11. "Get ___ of yourself!" : A HOLD.

12. Fictional detective skilled in judo : MOTO. Mr. Moto, to you! I did not know that this character was originally created by Marquand for the Saturday Evening Post, because they were looking for an Asian hero to replace Charlie Chan after the death of his creator Earl Der Biggers.

15. Wintry spike : ICICLE. We have plenty of those hanging around here in the northeast.

18. It might just come to you : IDEA.

20. Subsides : EBBS.

24. Geologic times : EONS.

25. Way out : EXIT.

26. Spill the beans : TELL.

27. Protective cover : TARP.

28. Bouquet : ODOR.

32. Salon acquisition : TAN. I just saw a news clip the other night about a HS basketball player with a rare disease called Mucha-Habermann, who must use a tanning bed every day to fight the painful rash.

35. Like some fictional twins : EVIL. The antagonist in the plot, who tries to undo the good deeds of the protagonist.

36. Serious uprising : RIOT.

38. Naturalist John : MUIR. Founder of the Sierra Club, and activist in preserving forests and wilderness areas.

40. Heat energy meas. : KCAL. Defined as the energy needed to raise the temp of 1 Kg. of water by 1 Kelvin.

41. "No problem" : EASY.

44. Like 1930s prices : PRE-WAR.

46. "Yeah, right!" : AS IF.

49. Middle of March : IDES.

50. Lathered (up) : SOAPED.

52. Breakdown of social norms : ANOMIE. From the greek word anomia, meaning "lawlessness."

53. Ankle bones : TARSI.

54. Damaging 2011 East Coast hurricane : IRENE. Some areas are still feeling the effects.

55. Tuck's title : FRIAR.

56. "Zounds!" : EGAD.

59. Pirate's brew : GROG. Do they measure it in DRAMs?

60. Longings : YENS.

62. In the water : WET.

63. Second Amendment backer: Abbr. : NRA. National Rifle Association, and the right to bear arms.

64. Slippery ___ : ELM. Hands up for "eel" before ELM?

Until next week!

Marti