Thursday, February 14, 2013 Dave Eckert

Theme: Pleasantly Plump

20A. Stout : TEAPOT ADJECTIVE. "I'm a little teapot, short and stout..."

37A. Stout : WOLFE CREATOR REX. Detective fiction author Rex Stout who created the famous Nero Wolfe character.

52A. Stout : GUINNESS PRODUCT. And of course, you are all familiar with this example?

Three grid-spanners for theme entries, and only missing a "Q" for a pangram. This is what is called a "definition" theme, where the same clue is used for all the theme entries, but with different answers for each one. Not much else to add by way of explanation. I think it has been nearly three years since we last saw Dave Eckert. His previous puzzle was a definition theme as well.

Marti here with my theme song to start off the day...2:39

Across:

1. Geometry subject : PLANE. Annoying clip. 2:00

6. Vend : SELL.

10. "Don't let anyone else hear this" : PSST.

14. Cowboy, at times : ROPER. I never knew that Mr. Roper was a cowboy in his spare time? 0:30

15. Palm product : TREO. Nope, not date. Not coco. Not palm tree, but Palm Treo.

16. Classic cream-filled snack : HO-HO. Pardon me, but I think they are always referred to in the plural?

17. For the birds? : AVIAN. I loved that it crosses 3-Down. For the bees : APIAN.

18. Agile deer : ROES. Why "agile?"

19. Actor Ken : OLIN. Producer of the TV show "Brothers and Sisters."  Did not recognize him.

23. Seaside raptor : ERN.

24. Have to thank for, with "to" : OWE.

25. Horn sound : TOOT. And 63-Across. Reaction to being cut off : HONK.

26. Belgrade native : SERB.

28. Lawn option : SOD.

29. Nova Scotia hrs. : AST. Hmmm..."AST" could be Atlantic Standard Time (UTC-4), Alaska Standard Time (UTC-9) or Arabia Standard Time (UTC+3). But since Nova Scotia is the only one on the "Atlantic," I'll go with curtain # 1...

32. Relative via remarriage : STEP NIECE. I had difficulties with this one, and went through step-daughter, -son, -mother, -father.  NIECE was a loooong time comin'!!

36. Shell out : GIVE.

40. Gremlin and Pacer : AMCS. Both American Motor Corporation cars.

41. Able to come back : RESILIENT.

42. Cole Porter's "___ Clown" : BE A. Classic song from the 1948 movie "The Pirate." 2:52

43. Bond, for one : SPY. James Bond.

45. "Heavens to Betsy!" : EGAD.

46. Place to tie up : PIER.

48. "___ we having fun yet?" : ARE. I am. I hope you are, too!

49. Intractable beast : ASS.

57. Dead set against : ANTI.

58. Ram, e.g. : MALE. How many "male" names can you come up with?  I'll start: buck, cock, bull, drone, jack, tom, drake, billy, stallion, stud...

59. Significant : MAJOR. We just survived a MAJOR storm called "Nemo" here in the NE.

60. Sax immortal Getz : STAN.

61. Politico Bayh : EVAN. Hmmm...I thought I had a valid nit. Birch "Evans" Bayh was Indiana senator from 1963-1981. His son, EVAN Bayh, was governor of Indiana from 1989 to 1997, and senator from 1999 to 2011. So alas, my nit was not to be.

62. Blue hue : AZURE. I dream of this.

64. Not a good mark : DENT. Like many a mark on my V8 can.

65. Hem again : RESEW.

Down:

1. Talk and talk : PRATE.

2. Casanova : LOVER.

4. Tide type : NEAP.

5. Cubemaster Rubik : ERNO. Did you remember his first name?

6. Milkshake choice : STRAWBERRY. I always used to like coffee shakes. Now, I just get the shakes from drinking coffee!

7. Gradually vanish : ERODE. It didn't help that I read the clue as "Gradually vaRnish..."

8. Cobb of "12 Angry Men" : LEE J. Fantastic movie. 2:13

9. Not get the better of : LOSE TO.

10. Flickr image : PHOTO.

11. Ring insert : SOLITAIRE. Diamond.

12. Knife in "West Side Story" : SHIV. The word "shiv" usually refers to an improvised weapon, such as those made by prisoners which are fashioned from razor blades, shards of glass or other sharp objects.

13. Shape (up) : TONE.

21. Tire-shaped : TORIC.

22. New England catch : COD. Also known as Gadus morhua.

26. Nos. for beachgoers : SPFS. Sun Protection Factor(s)

27. Chemical suffix : ENE. e.g. scene, Charlene, convene, serene...

(Just using a little SARCASM, for those who read Lemony's post at 1:34 PM on Sunday.)

28. Cryptozoologist's quarry : SEA SERPENT. A pseudoscience involving the search for animals whose existence is not yet proved, like the Loch Ness Monster.

30. Name meaning "young warrior" in Old Norse : SVEN. I was waffling between OLAF, OLAV or SVEN. Sven won.

31. Short communication : TEXT. But not while driving!!

32. Work on a deck : SWAB.

33. Large volume : TOME.

34. Yosemite attraction : EL CAPITAN. Iconic image often photographed by Ansel Adams.

35. Not a good mark : CEE. "Dent" didn't fit...

36. Crossword component : GRID. Anyone else want WORD?

38. Rival of Rory : TIGER. Golf. Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods.  Fun ad. 1:03

39. Greeting in Rio : OLA.

43. When doubled, a breath freshener : SEN. Have you ever used Sen-Sen after engaging in some underage drinking?

44. Specialized undergrad course : PRE-MED. I took pre-med, but still had trouble with this one!

47. Permanently : IN INK. Or, how some stalwart solvers solve crossword puzzles...

48. Liam Neeson voiced him in "The Chronicles of Narnia" films : ASLAN.

49. Like many a prime rib serving : AU JUS.

50. One in a Lincoln quartet? : SCORE. "Four score and seven years ago..."

51. Scatter : STREW.

52. Reason for stitches : GASH. Ouch!

53. "Do ___..." : UNTO. others....

54. Late-inning achievement : SAVE. Baseball.

55. Barbra's "Funny Girl" co-star : OMAR. Sharif. "You are woman, I am man..." 4:28

56. Flabbergast : DAZE.

That's all, until next week!

Hugs,

Marti

Notes from C.C.:

1) Happy Birthday to dear Marti, our beautiful, adventurous & gifted Thursday Sherpa, who taught me by example on how to stay positive despite the adversities life offers.

Marti & Husband

2) Rex Parker organized and helped produced a set of 24 original puzzles (including one from Don G and me) to benefit Hurricane Sandy relief. Please click here for more information on American Red Crosswords. The puzzles are free, but any help you can give would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

From Marti:
Thanks for the sweet comment, C.C.!  Last night I lit a candle, and this is how it burned down:

Wednesday, February 13 2013, Janice Luttrell and Patti Varol

theme: two of a kind  - "Double" can precede both words in each theme entry, which also contains repeated & consecutive letters.

17. Titanic compartment on the lowest level : BOILER ROOM. there are several definitions, but the first one best fits our theme (from thefreedictionary.com): An area, as in a building or on a ship, that houses one or more steam boilers or hot-water tanks. double boiler. double room.

26. Setup of a sort : BLIND DATE. two strangers on a date arranged by a mutual friend. what could go wrong? double-blind. double-date.

50. Country kitchen design option : DUTCH DOOR. a door that is split horizontally into two parts, so that the top and bottom can open/close separately. double dutch. double door.

60. Verify : CROSS CHECK. two meanings here. 1: in hockey, checking is a technique to separate the player from the puck, by pushing or hitting against either the player's body or the puck.  most forms of checking are legal, but cross checking, in which the shaft of the stick is held with both hands, is illegal and results in a penalty. 2: cross checking also means to check (data) against two sources. double cross. double check.

37. Drive-in offering, and what 17-, 26-, 50- or 60-Across has, in more ways than one : DOUBLE FEATURE. two feature movies shown one after another, with an intermission in between. there are only two drive-in theaters left in the bay area, one in san jose and one in santa cruz. i think you have to be under 40 to be able to stay awake for two movies in a row.

melissa here. 

this puzzle obviously took a lot of thought to put together (by two women)

across:

1. Medical amts. : CC'S. cc!

4. Be accountable (for) : ANSWER

10. Remove, as coupons : CLIP. or hangnails.

14. Ernst collaborator : ARP. Max Ernst (1891 – 1976) and Jean Arp (1886 – 1966)  were “lifelong friends, these two avant-garde artists were among the founders of the DADA movement… They questioned traditional society and used art to explore new moralities, politics and social structures.

15. Electronic music genre : TECHNO

16. Spherical opening? : HEMIsphere.

19. "All __": 1931 tune : OF ME. frank's cover (2:43).

20. Height: Pref. : ACRO. as in acrophobia.

21. Lord's Prayer opener : OUR father who art in heaven ...

22. Arterial trunk : AORTA

24. __ León: Monterrey's state : NUEVO. one of the 31 states within mexico.

29. Okay : ASSENT

31. Okay : NOD. clecho.

32. Project, with "out" : JUT

33. Mediterranean capital : BEIRUT. capital of lebanon.

36. Farm female : MARE. equine. and 62d. Udder woman? : COW. for some reason i don't love this clue.

41. 1% of a cool mil : TENG. absolutely no idea. google says teng is a rare chinese surname, and a flying snake in chinese mythology - but neither seems to fit here. who can clear this up? (From C.C.: Parse it as TEN G. Also, Teng is not obscure. Teresa Teng was very very famous. "Wherever there are Chinese people, the songs of Teresa Teng can be heard." No exaggeration. Teng is the same as Deng in Mandarin, as in Deng Xiaoping.)

42. Lethargic : TORPID

43. Stein filler : ALE

44. Poet's contraction : O'ER (over); and 58. Poet's preposition : THRO

46. Discography entries : ALBUMS

54. Wash softly against : LAP AT

55. Words after "What a coincidence!" : SO AM I

56. Muppet friend of Elmo : ZOE

59. Italian carmaker : FIAT

63. "Poppycock!" : BOSH. we've probably seen this before but i didn't remember it.

64. Find, as a frequency : TUNE TO

65. Whopper, e.g. : LIE

66. Very dark : INKY

67. It has its ups and downs : SEE-SAW

68. Family guy : DAD

down

1. Poolside structure : CABANA. at the copa.

2. Springtime bloomer : CROCUS

3. Tapering tops : SPIRES. breathtaking spire on the chrysler building.

4. Wore (away) : ATE

5. Fiery emperor? : NERO. if you're interested

6. Clean with effort : SCRUB

7. Fingerprint ridge : WHORL

8. Ambient music pioneer Brian : ENO

9. Parmesan alternative : ROMANO. yum.

10. A minor, for one : CHORD

11. Didn't quite close : LEFT AJAR

12. Childish : IMMATURE

13. Slapstick prop : PIE

18. Film Volkswagen with "53" painted on it : LOVEBUG. 1969 disney film.

23. Singular : ODD

25. Mark on an otherwise perfect record? : ONE B. as opposed to straight a's.

27. Place in the earth : INTER. underground, i suppose.

28. Hot time in France : ETE. french summer.

30. Dawn-dusk link : TIL

34. Like the '80s look, now : RETRO. 

i wear your granddad's clothes

i look incredible

i'm in this big-a@@ coat

from the thrift shop down the road

35. Tabloid subj. : UFO

36. Spa treatment : MUD BATH. popular in calistoga, ca.

37. Aspect of paranoia : DELUSION

38. Person in the know : ONE TO ASK. aka, mom.

39. Therapists' org. : APA. american psychological association.

40. Cultivate : TILL

41. Smidge : TAD

44. Unit of resistance : OHM

45. Official orders : EDICTS

47. Defended, as family honor : UPHELD

48. Brady Bunch girl : MARCIA

49. Fed the fire : STOKED

51. Cartoonist Guisewite or her title character : CATHY

52. Depleted layer : OZONE

53. Blooms for lovers : ROSES

57. "¿Cómo __?" : ESTA

59. Justice Dept. division : FBI

61. Wish one hadn't : RUE

melissa