Friday, March 1, 2013, Dan Margolis

THEME: Feeling Antsy?

Well at least these ants did not spoil any picnics. Each of the four theme answers take in the language two word phrases, with the second word ending ANCE, and replaces that ending with ANTS, creating a homonym and a very different and visually creative new phrase. I do not recall any prior puzzles by Mr. Margolis, nor did I see him in the NY Times database, so if this is his maiden effort, congratulations; starting on Friday is a challenge. We have a few California references so perhaps he is a rare west coast constructor. Overall, a conventional grid layout and an entertaining exercise.

20A. Valets who get no tips? : POOR ATTENDANTS (13) Perhaps if they came to work more often and did not have poor attendance, they would get more money. Of course Bates would never take a tip anyway.

25A. "Block that kick!" and "Dee-fense!"? : SPORTING CHANTS. (14) If you filled this in, you had a sporting chance to suss the theme.

43A. Masked marathon runners? : SECRET ENTRANTS. (14) Why marathon, for the alliteration? We made a secret panel in our bedroom by taking apart the tongue and groove knotty pine, and then putting it back very carefully, but not skillfully. Well we were three boys and we needed Splynter there to help but it was too many years before he was born.

48A. Temporarily contribute helpers? : LEND ASSISTANTS.(13). The most similar phrase, as the basic meaning is the same.

And now the rest.

Across:

1. Powerful swimmer : MAKO. Wow, another tough start thrown in the Shark Tank.

5. Pipe part : STEM. Who knew there were so many PARTS. Bowl also fits.

9. Distinguished : GREAT. The whole top row is a Friday.

14. "Not a chance!" : AS IF. As if I would get discouraged.

15. Trusted underling : AIDE. Why trusted?

16. Variety : REVUE.

17. Soft mineral : TALC. The softest.

18. Dart : FLIT.

19. Modify : AMEND. We file lots of amended pleadings.

.23. Alliance led by Nasser: Abbr. : UAR. A confusing and short lived alliance. LINK.

24. Overseas assent : OUI. You say non, non but your lips say oui, oui.

33. It may be perfect : TENSE. Or even pluperfect!

34. Pursue : TRAIL. Johnny always trailed behind his big brother.

35. MapQuest request: Abbr. : RTE. Route.

37. City near Presque Isle State Park : ERIE. Here is a YELP.

38. Performed a jeté : LEAPT. A homemade HOW TO (1:54). Have you all seen the poor child who burned her hair with the curling iron?

39. Kind of a drag? : MAIN. Sound familiar?

40. Delt neighbor : PECtoral. The muscle abbreviation.(Deltoid).

41. Hershey's competitor : BOSCO. Chocolate syrup for your milk, very big when I was young.

42. Creature : BEING.

46. Loser to DDE : AES. Adlai E. Stevenson, the divorced egghead of my youth.

47. Poetic period : E'EN. Evening.

56. Sensory stimuli : ODORS. If they are good they are fragrant, if they are not it is my children.

57. "...a Loaf of Bread..." poet : OMAR. Khayyiam. We miss you CA!

"A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread--and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness--
Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!"

58. Got a load of : EYED. Well, it is okay, because if someone says get a load of the bazonkers on that young lady, the person will have eyed, so...

60. Principle : TENET.

61. ___ Valley: Reagan Library site : SIMI. Als the home of his remains.

62. Fix, in a way : SPAY. Talk about your oxymorons, yes we fixed our dog so he can no longer reproduce. Aren't you glad dogs cannot return the favor?

63. Head lock : TRESS. By making it two words, we have the punny clue.

64. Wallet fillers : ONES. I wish you all Benjamins not Georges.

65. Like some losers : SORE. Not me, I am carrying on to the second half.

Down:

1. Welcoming sight? : MAT. Cute visual.

2. "Stat!" cousin : ASAP. As soon as possible.

3. Bust unit : KILO. Not Dennis' kind, but drug busts.

4. "Naturally" : OF COURSE.

5. The Beach Boys' "Surfin' ___" : SAFARI. They are still out there putting on SHOWS.(2:09).

6. Be a little cockeyed, maybe : TILT.

7. Computer menu option : EDIT.

8. Dole : METE.

9. Bit-by-bit : GRADUAL. You might say STEP BY STEP (7:06)

10. Tarry : REMAIN. Really stay longer than you planned.

11. Knotted up, sportswise : EVEN. Tied also fits, and did not help overcome a slow start up top.

12. Em, for one : AUNT. Really tricky for anyone who has solved puzzled for 50 years plus as EMS and ENS, the measures, were big crossword fodder.

13. Kennedy et al. : TEDS. Meh, there are so many Kennedys, and there are so many sheds.

21. Charge with a time component : RATE. I charge $0.00 per for my work here.

22. Like seven Ryan games : NO HIT. Nolan Ryan,  baseball trivia, about the most prolific pitcher to hold the opposition without any hits in a game.

25. Increase, with "up" : STEP. In Probate, if you inherit something of value, you get the stepped up basis, which helps if you ever sell.

26. Netanyahu's predecessor : PERES;  now Israel's PRESIDENT.

27. Cold and ready : ON ICE. Keep the champagne....even Tinman would agree to that ice?

28. Explosive trial : N-TEST. Not the Scopes trial but Nuclear Test.

29. Supper preceder : GRACE. All you wanted to know, and more. LINK.

30. Chef's fowl : CAPON. I put this in without hesitation, but I am still not sure why. We also have, 41D. Fowl options : BREASTS.

31. Commuting option : TRAIN. When I was a kid, it was great thrill to take the train into NYC with all the commuters.

32. Hitch : STINT.

36. Some Caltech grads: Abbr. : ENGS. Engineers like Wolowitz.

38. Fertile soil : LOESS. We have not seen this fill since 2008, LINK.

39. Parsimony : MEANNESS.

42. Spanish tar : BREA. As in the famous ones, La Brea, our third California clue.

44. Inner circles : CADRES.

45. Game designed by Alexey Pajitnov : TETRIS. I bet Sheldon knows this, I did not and will not keep it in my mind.

48. Senate Republican leader before Frist : LOTT. You all remember TRENT.

49. River to the Fulda : EDER. For KAZIE, SB, miss m and all the others.... VERBINDUNG.

50. Inventory extreme : NONE. Yes having none is certainly one end of the inventory spectrum.

51. "Meh" : SO SO. This is too easy...this clue was...oh never mind..

52. "Let's do it" : I'M IN.

53. Word heard before and after old : SAME.

54. Proof goof : TYPO. We love whimsical rhyming clues for easy fill.

55. Scorch : SEAR. Do shop at Scorches?

59. Salon job : DYE. She does color to die for!

Another Month is here, 2 gone already for 2013 and a new constructor to join all of the new people commenting here. Like the daffodils, a sure sign of spring even if we are going to suffer through our wintry 48 degree night this week end. Keep up the good work Dan and newbies and I will be back next week, GWATCDR.

Lemonade out.

Note from C.C.:

 

ACPT (American Crossword Puzzle Tournament) will be held in NY next weekend. Rich Norris will be there, so will our Marti and John Lampkin. For those who attend, I hope you won't miss the Cru Dinner organized by Mike Alpern. The dinner officially kicks off the tournament and is a great opportunity to meet with constructors (esp our Marti!) and fellow solvers.

Rich, Mike & Kim, 2008 ACPT

Thursday, February 28, 2013 Steven J. St. John

Theme: Pickup Lines

7A. With 22-, 37- or 48-Across, familiar line : HEY BABE...

22A. See 7-Across : COME HERE OFTEN?

37A. See 7-Across : YOUR PLACE OR MINE?

48A. See 7-Across : WHAT'S YOUR SIGN?

64A. Probable response to 7-/22-, 7-/37- or 7-/48-Across : GET LOST!!!!! Guffaw!  Great theme wrap-up!

SJ² is probably young enough to be my grandson, but I still loved his pickup lines! There was some other clever stuff in there too, as you will soon see.

Oh, and best pickup line I ever heard? "If I were to ask you out on a date, would your answer be the same as the one to this question?"

Marti here, so let's get crackin'!

Across:

1. Send with an email : ATTACH.

14. It has its charms : VOODOO. To soothe the savage breast, perhaps?

15. Password accompaniment : USER NAME.

17. Mail for King Arthur : ARMOUR. Legendary British king in the clue gives a hint to the British spelling of "armor."

18. "Pull it together" : GET A GRIP. Great fill!

19. Fed. management and support agency : GSA. General Services Administration.

21. Fabric : CLOTH.

29. Ken and Lena of Hollywood : OLINS.

30. Tell-all account : EXPOSÉ. Do tell!

31. Mosquito-borne fever : DENGUE. Also called "breakbone fever." Typically spread by the A. aegypti species of mosquito. (OK, I 'fess: I had to google the mosquito.) (But I did remember breakbone fever!)

33. Islet : AIT.

34. Preschool downtime : NAP.

41. Disapproving sound : SSS.

42. Ballpark fig. : EST.imate.

43. Two-___ : SEATER.

44. Shrill laugh : CACKLE. I got the part of one of the three witches in our school's production of Macbeth, because I could do the cackle so well...hee, heee, heeeee!

47. Bookkeeper's deduction : OUTGO. Anyone else want debit?

50. Literature Nobelist ___ Bashevis Singer : ISAAC. Definitely a Thursday clue.  Monday would be clued with Stern, Asimov or Newton.

52. ___ Lanka : SRI.

53. Words often said with a fist pump : NAILED IT. Nailed it! [Fist pump]

57. Easy pill to swallow : GEL CAP. With a spoonful of sugar, maybe.

62. Where a shopping list may be jotted down : ENVELOPE. Nope, I use "Evernote" on my phone. Goodbye, scraps of paper that I always forget on the kitchen counter, anyway!

63. Word of exasperation : ENOUGH. (...already!)

65. Saved : STORED.


Down:

1. Gardner of "The Killers" : AVA. Based on a short story by Ernest Hemmingway.

2. NYY opponent, on scoreboards : TOR.onto, opponents of the New York Yankees.

3. Cat on the prowl : TOM. "Alley" wouldn't fit.

4. Excitement : ADO.

5. Forks over reluctantly : COUGHS UP.

6. ___ trade : HORSE. This one stayed blank, waiting on perps to help. (Scroll down the right hand menu to "Olio" and click on "Comments Section Abbrs" to see the meaning of commonly used phrases or abbreviations on this blog.)

7. An O may symbolize one : HUG. OOOO !

8. Odessa-to-Austin dir. : ESE.

9. To this point : YET.

10. Leaflike parts : BRACTS. Bracts are different from leaves, and have specialized functions.

11. "Life of Pi" director : ANG LEE. Still have not seen it.

12. Unseen "Red" character in "Peanuts" : BARON. I was thinking of that cute little redhead that Charlie Brown is so fond of.  Then I remembered Snoopy's nemesis.

13. Give off : EMIT.

16. N.T. book : EPH.esians, book in the New Testament. I hear it got good reviews on Amazon, but I think I'll wait for the movie...

20. "All bets ___ off" : ARE.

22. Buffalo Bill and the Wyoming city named for him : CODYS. One way to clue a plural proper name!

23. Kitchen spreads : OLEOS.

24. Frigid forecast word : MINUS. Brrrr...I am ready for spring!

25. Tech sch. grad : ENGR. Engineer.  I have seen this abbr. as egr., eng. and engr.

26. "Bingo!" : EXACTLY. Loved this clue/ans.

27. Andy's TV son : OPIE. Let me get it right this time: from the old "Andy Griffith Show." (Not "Mayberry RFD.")

28. Pics : FOTOS. Slang-y clue deserves equally slang-y answer.

32. To-be, in politics : ELECT. As in "President-elect," before actually taking office.

34. Capone associate : NITTI. I have no nits with this!

35. Words after crack or fry : AN EGG.

36. 1996 role for Madonna or Jonathan Pryce : PERON. They played Eva and Juan Peron in "Evita".

38. Sets a price of : ASKS.

39. Adjust, as to a new situation : REORIENT.

40. Prey for a Hauskatze : MAUS. German clue for "cat" and German answer for "mouse." In written German, all nouns are capitalized, whether they are common nouns or proper nouns.   (I guess they're also capitalized in spoken German, but I never really noticed.)

44. Alpine dwelling : CHALET.

45. Battery not included, perhaps : AA CELL. Great clue!

46. Aurora, to the Greeks : EOS.

48. Refrain from claiming : WAIVE.

49. Prods : URGES.

50. Like Vivaldi's "Spring" : IN E. (Major.) Musical interlude. I know you like this one. 6:05 for Part 1. Click on the "Part 2" video on the right for the rest. 4:26

51. Joined the choir : SANG.

54. Scooby-___ : DOO.

55. Tape speed unit: Abbr. : IPS. Inches Per Second.

56. Hanoi holiday : TET.

58. John of London : LOO. Did the clue fool you?

59. Nasty mutt : CUR.

60. Birthday candle number : AGE. DH decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and put only one candle on my birthday cake this year.  Unfortunately, it was a 4" x 8" pillar candle...

61. Prof's deg. : PHD. "Piled Higher and Deeper."  (^0^)

'Til next week!

OOOO,
Marti