Saturday, Feb 9th, 2013, Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: None

Words: 72

Blocks: 33

Nah-nah nah-NAH nah-NAH nah nah....Mr. Wolfe last appeared on Saturday on May 12, last year, and I looked; it was a tough one; well, I solved this one, but there were a few answers that I had to wonder about, and we will get to those, but for now here are the details; Triple 8's and 6's in the corners, with the longest answers being just 9's:

41. Source of funding for the BBC : TV LICENCE - they get funding from their (UK spelling) license - The British Broadcasting Corporation charges ALL who receive the signal; more here, crossing

11. "Can I go now?" : "ARE WE DONE"?

31. Holy day commemorating the purification of the Virgin Mary : CANDLEMAS - One week ago (Feb 2), crossing

32. Write : DROP A LINE

O-42-n-42-w-42-a-42-r-42-d~!

ACROSS:

1. Dirty work? : STAG FILM - Ooh, what a start; can't really link the movie I'm thinking of....

9. Vocations : TRADES

15. One making a comeback? : RETURNEE - one online dictionary didn't have this; the other one said it usually refers to military types returning from overseas

16. Most irritated : SOREST

17. Attacks : SETS UPON

18. Animated bird who debuted in "A Tale of Two Kitties" (1942) : TWEETY - This guy; more here, for those who care to know about his sexuality....

19. "OMG! I didn't want to know that!" : TMI - Too Much Information, text/online time-saver

20. Conveniently weak argument, metaphorically : STRAW MAN - new concept for me, so I went looking for an explanation.  I liked this one, especially #2

22. Racket : DIN - ARGH~! Not ADO

25. Home of Caterpillar, Inc. : PEORIA - I think this would have been better without the "Inc." at the end; just a subtle Capital "C" at the start of caterpillar

27. Latin 101 word : ESSE - "to be"

28. "The Prague Cemetery" novelist : ECO

29. Asked for food, maybe : CHEEPED - the way birds ask;  but not Tweety

34. As dissimilar as possible : POLAR - as in "polar opposites"

38. Refrain : CHORUS

39. "Of Mice and Men" (1992) actor/director : SINISE - Gary;  I liked him as "Lt. Dan"

40. Williams of ''Happy Days'' : ANSON

44. Gillette Stadium player : PATRIOT - Our New England core will know this;  I had to wait on perps

46. Put on the canvas : KO'D - no "e" this time, just Knocked Out;  I had PIN first - anyone else?

47. Ancient promenade : STOA

50. Skip the plan : WING IT - there used to be a Sports Bar in Jacksonville FL around the corner from my apt called WIng It;  guess what they served....

52. Pen : STY

53. Neat and tidy : WELL KEPT

55. Veep under GRF : NAR - Gerald Rudolph Ford's Vice President was Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller - all perps - did not know;  RMN was president when I was born, RWR was the first president I recall being elected.

57. Pen, as a poem : INDITE - to "make up, compose"; from Latin "indicere", to make known

58. Out in the open : ALFRESCO

63. Added to one's net income? : SEINED - I thought I was smart with FISHED, but no, I was close.  Should have cast a wider net....

64. Fine form : GOOD TRIM - yeah, but....

65. Unwavering, as a stare : STEELY - I started with STEADY, gave me 66.6%

66. Wife of Orpheus : EURYDICE - good bottom line fill;  most of the time we see what's EASIEST, with easy to cross letters like "E","S","T"

DOWN:

1. Yearbook sect. : SRs - Wasn't sure if it might be JRs; my first Junior High School had all three years in the same book. 

2. Athletic supporter? : TEE - I had "FAN", because of the "?", even considered NEA when I got the "E";  For a Saturday, I think the "?" could have been left out

3. Court VIP : ATTorney - not A.D.A.

4. Air force? : GUST - we got some GUSTS here last night; concerned about the power lines weighed down with snow

5. Dowdy sort : FRUMP

6. Broken : IN PIECES

7. Oscar winner Melissa of "The Fighter" : LEO

8. Criminal intent, in law : MENS REA - probably my favorite version of Law & Order, mostly because I like Vincent D'Onofrio's acting style - thought he deserved an Oscar for his "Edgar" role in Men In Black; could YOU play a "bug" in a decomposing skin?

9. Feature of some Birkenstocks : T-STRAP - I prefer this kind of T-strap, or maybe this kind, especially in "Stag Films"

10. Elite seating area : ROW A - Ugh, OK

12. Thinks : DEEMS

13. These, in Madrid : ESTAS

14. "Funny Girl" composer : STYNE

21. Gets even with : TIES

22. Brenda Lee record label : DECCA

23. Corporate raider Carl : ICAHN

24. Not-to-do list : NO-NOs

26. Omega, to a physicist : OHM - the measure of resistance in electrical circuits

30. Expansive : EPIC

33. Long-tailed moth : LUNA - JazzB linked her on Wed, one of my favorites from the H.P. series, too.

35. Words in blue, often : LINKS

36. Accessory with a morning coat : ASCOT

37. Sounding like bagpipes : REEDY - yeah, that's ONE way you could describe them; actually, I happen to like "rock" bagpipes (p.s., this is my ring-tone).

39. Spell : SIT IN FOR - Um, well, uh, yeah, I guess?

41. Game show prize : TRIP - Love this theme song; earworm~!

42. Sommelier's datum : VINTAGE - Wine waiter

43. Yule symbol : LOG - almost too deep with my thinking

45. Academically stylish : TWEEDY

47. Holey order : SWISS - My "HAR-HAR" for the day; hole-y, the cheese

48. Article of faith : TENET

49. Many a 22-Down record : OLDIE

51. Not on schedule : TARDY

54. Mail-order record co. : K-TEL

56. Collecting Soc. Sec., maybe : RET'D - two weeks in a row with retired in the puzzle;  I got about 22 more years left with UPS

59. College Football Hall of Fame coach Holtz : LOU

60. Madras Mr. : SRI

61. Pres. title : CIC - Commander In Charge (Correct: Commander-In-Chief. Thanks, Marti.)

62. Where the 'eart is? : 'OME - Cockney elision, H-eart and H-ome

Splynter, now 42 - the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything - anyone know what I am referring to?


Notes from C.C.:

Splynter in his beloved Rangers' jersey

Thanks for faithfully guiding us every Saturday. Thanks for always giving me solid feedback on themes/fill. You're a great Pig. I hope 42 is magical and you find your Goat or Rabbit!

Friday, February 8, 2013, Jeffrey Wechsler

Theme: Now where did I hide that SOCIAL anagram I made for my circle?

Each of the four theme answers has an anagram for SOCIAL hidden in its words. Including the reveal, we have three grid spanning fill and two 9s for 63 letters in the theme. This is our third offering from JW, and my first time dissecting his work. This to me is a more traditional Friday with a lower word and block count, and  some thought provoking fill, some new things and nice balance. On to the show.

17A. Sherlock Holmes forte : LOGICAL SOLUTION.(15) Deductive reasoning tells us something is hidden in the circles, right Watson.

22A. 1891 self-named electrical invention : TESLA COIL.(9) Here we notice the same letters are in the circles  So, it is anagram time. Right Jerome? I am sure you all want to know How to BUILD ONE.

37A. "They're running neck and neck!" : THIS IS A CLOSE ONE.(15)

46A. Product introduced as Brad's Drink in 1893 : PEPSI COLA. (9)

The reveal:

57A. Advocates for change, and a hint to this puzzle's circled letters : SOCIAL REFORMERS.(15) like poor Tom and his Irish peers. The clue tells us we are literally re-forming the letters in SOCIAL. 

Across:

1. Dragster, e.g. : FAST CAR. We start with something for Dennis, Barry G. and our other muscle car enthusiasts. CLIP.(10:17).

8. Crammed, perhaps : STUDIED. In college, it was the only type of studying I did, which often left me...

15. Without a clue : UNAWARE. 

16. Having merit, as a theory : TENABLE. I seldom hear this word, but its antonym, untenable is very popular. Nice long fill.

19. Steve of the Lakers : NASH. They acquired him and Dwight Howard  to challenge OKC but things have not gone well.  STATS.

20. Involuntary movement : TIC. Too soon to link Chief Inspector Dreyfus again.

21. Find the right words, say : EDIT. Nice clue for an old stand by.

26. Lethargic : POKY.

29. Crew member : OAR. back in the prep school days the boys in crew were quite popular, and they were known by which oar they were, but this was tricky for me, even if only three letters.

30. Computer media : DISKS. Does anyone still have their old floppies? I am not referring to those suffering from low T.

34. Very long time : EON.

35. "Nonsense!" : BUNK. Short for bunkum, phonetic spelling of Buncombe, a county in North Carolina. The usual story (by 1841) of its origin is this: At the close of the protracted Missouri statehood debates, supposedly on Feb. 25, 1820, N.C. Representative Felix Walker (1753-1828) began what promised to be a "long, dull, irrelevant speech," and he resisted calls to cut it short by saying he was bound to say something that could appear in the newspapers in the home district and prove he was on the job. "I shall not be speaking to the House," he confessed, "but to Buncombe." Bunkum has been American English slang for "nonsense" since 1841 (from 1838 as generic for "a U.S. Representative's home district"). (Stolen from someplace).

36. Golf course freebie : PENCIL. Do not see how it is free when you need to pay the fees to get the scorecard and pencil.

40. Show to be false : REFUTE. I wonder who futed it in the first place.

41. Checkpoint demand : HALT. Conjures up Berlin Wall imagery for me.

42. Dedicatory verse : ODE. Am I the only one who has OD'ED on this fill?

43. Handy : ADEPT.

44. Old-time whaler's harvest : OIL. Whale oil had many uses for years.

45. Bit of a disagreement : SPAT. You think it comes from people 'spitting' at each other?

50. TV doctor : PHIL. Not a fan; Oprah is not always right.

53. Market tracking aid: Abbr. : UPC.Universal Product Code.

54. ___ mater : ALMA.  Latin for 'nourishing mother', though used now to signify a school attended.

62. High point of many a small town : STEEPLE. Here is the church, here is the steeple, open the doors and here are the people?  LINK.(0:35).

63. Like bumpers : CHROMED.

64. Bette Midler classic : THE ROSE. Sit back and LISTEN.(3:39).

65. Flirt's quality : COYNESS. How many of you dear ladies know the secret to being "artfully shy?" Certainly Lady Mary has not been coy.

Down:

1. Arm extension? : FUL.  Armful, simple, I fingered it out easily.

2. Shortly : ANON. Shakespeare's characters were always saying they would be along, anon.

3. "The Lord of the Rings," for one : SAGA. More Tolkien press.

4. Full of surprises, as a plot : TWISTY. My meh of the day; I just cannot see anyone talking about a book or movie using this word.

5. Put away for later : CACHE. Do you keep your cash in a cache?

6. Constellation near Scorpius : ARA. Isn't it interesting we know all about Justin Timberlake, Selena Gomez, J Lo and the like but nothing about astronomy?  I did not know THIS either.

7. Sikhism, e.g.: Abbr. : RELigion.

8. Dispassionate : STOIC. Dr. Brennan?

9. The Bell System was one, briefly : TELCO. They even have a WIKI page.

10. First Burmese prime minister : U NU. Luckily, the last time we had this man in puzzle was a Gareth Bain in November, which I blogged, so it filled easily this time.

11. Newsreel word : DATELINE. CED, I could not find a link that actually used the word, though I remember hearing it as a small child.

12. Footnote abbr. : IBID. In law citations we use ID the abbreviation of idem in stead of ibidem.

13. Simple race of fiction : ELOI. Yvette, we will never forget you.

14. Bad impression? : DENT.  Cute clue.

18. Voter's dilemma, often : STARK CHOICE.  Not familiar with this TERM. thinking only of rocks and hard places, or something decide by Ironman..

23. W.C. Fields persona : SOUSE.

24. Turner in films : LANA.

25. In other words, in other words : ID EST. I.E.

26. Ancient Jordanian archaeological city : PETRA. The name means rock in Greek, but it a ROSE CITY.

27. Expressed wonderment : OOHED.  And afterwards, she aahed!

28. It's sharp and flat : KNIFE. Not musical notes, really cutting edge humor here.

31. Exclusive : SCOOP. With newspapers dying, we will the internet be where we see scoops.

32. In a way, slangily : KINDA.

33. Bad fall : SLEET. I had this from the perps, never would have gotten from the clue.

35. Henri : s'il vous plaît :: Heinrich : ___ : BITTE. "Please" in German. Does this multi-lingual clue please you?

36. Ristorante order : POLLO. Chicken in Italian, also in Spanish, so we have French, German, Italian and Spanish.

38. One delivering the goods : SUPPLIER. The drug world has given this word such bad connotations.

39. Secular : LAIC.

45. River leaper : SALMON. Sounds fishy to me.

47. Roots (for) : PULLS.

48. Splurge : SPREE. There is debate whether this word comes from an Irish word or a French one.

49. "Curb Your Enthusiasm" role : LARRY. Is it still a role when you play yourself?  LEARN.(2:46).

50. Attention-getter : PSST.

51. Frigid planet in "The Empire Strikes Back" : HOTH. Recall this SCENE? (4:08)

52. Frozen treat : ICEE. I have already linked Sheldon twice for this clue, so today I will just say it rhymes with...

55. Cry from one eagerly raising a hand : ME ME. I have to pee pee.

56. Father of Phobos and Deimos : ARES. The Greek version of MARS.

58. Mil. mailroom : APO. Army Post Office. I wonder if they will give up Saturdays as well.

59. Radio frequency regulating org. : FCC. Federal Communications Commission

60. "So that's what's going on!" : O HO! Caught you!

61. Tom Hayden's '60s org. : SDS. Students for a Democratic Society. Their motto in 1968 was "Vote with Your Feet." He later became a Senator and married Jane Fonda.

I was always Fonda Jane, but now it is time for me to go, so enjoy your week end; stay safe if your facing a monster storm. I have squeezed all I can out this one. L714.

Notes from C.C.:

Jerry Bachmann is working on a word search tool at http://nullwords.com in an attempt to "make a better mousetrap" by designing a site that works well on mobile devices and that allows searches that are compatible with some new games like Letterpress (which he plays a lot of).

He would like to get your feedback on the search features he's implemented so far and what might be useful for crossword puzzle lovers.