Friday, March 8, 2013, David Steinberg and David Phillips

(Note from C.C.:

To online solvers, whenever you see a "-" sign in a grid, it means there's no clue/clue number for that entry. Puzzle software does not allow empty clues, hence editors often use "-" as a signal. Your on-line clue numbers will be different from Lemonade's write-up number.

Today's grid should look like this:

THEME: Water falls. Some of the fill does as well.

Each of the six theme answers requires the word WATER presented top to bottom connected with across fill to complete the fill for the clue. As the Friday Master of Ceremonies, I get these visually creative, but outre puzzles where much of the fill is in un-clued space. When we had Ian Livengood's version back in January, he had the words be read backwards, this time you have to picture the entire answer and figure out what spaces to grab to put it all in. The symmetry of effort is wonderful blending the across  and down part of each theme answer, keeping the long fill at 15. This effort is from David Phillips (?) and David Steinberg, one of the wunderkinds of construction, still in high school I think. You can read all about him on his own LINK. let us get right to the puzzle, because like Lucy, I got a lot of 'splaining to do, especially if the online sites numbered wrong again.

1A. Perennial Oscars staple : PRICE W, - No Clue D. : WATER. - No Clue A. : R HOUSE.  PRICE WATERHOUSE.  (15). We all know this accounting firm tabulates the Oscar votes and places the winner's name in a sealed envelope, to be opened on stage. (Also the basis of Johnny Carson's Mayonnaise jar). Anyway, a very tough way to begin, with 1A unfillable without the perps.

6A. Canoeist's challenge : WHITE W. - No Clue D. : WATER. WHITE WATER (10). I can only think of Deliverance and will never go in a river again.

31A. Prevent that sinking feeling? : TREAD W. - No Clue D. : WATER. TREAD WATER (10). A literal and figurative clue.

45A. Best Picture of 1954 : ON THE W - No Clue D. : WATER. - No Clue A. : R FRONT. ON THE WATERFRONT. (15) The wonderful Brando, Rod Steiger movie. 

19 D : WATER. - No Clue A : R VAPOR. WATER VAPOR (10). This clued steamed me.

42 D. River phenomena (or what literally happens six times in this puzzle) : WATER.  - No Clue A. : R FALLS. WATER FALLS (10).

Across:

11. Game with pelotas : JAI ALAI. The hard rubber ball used in the fronton, caught in the cesta.

13. Maria ___, the last House of Habsburg ruler : THERESA. Your history LESSON.

14. They're found in bars : SPIRITS. This is doubly true, as alcohol is known as spirits, and I imagine a lot of ghosts haunt the bars.

15. Most comfortable : HOMIEST. This was difficult for me, but I had already committed to doing down clues first, so...

16. Breed canines? : TEETHE. Really fun clue, I could not think of anything which passed the breakfast test.

18. "Peter Pan" character : SMEE. Classic crosswordese.

19. Erase, as from memory : WIPE. The NEURALIZER.(0:56).

24. Ukr., once : SSR. Ukraine was once one of the the Republics.

25. Honey Bear portrayer in "Mogambo" : AVA. Gardner, reprising the role first done by Jean Harlow in Red Dust. LINK. (4:17) Clark Gable, Grace Kelly, what more do you want.

26. Like some labor : MENIAL. Interestingly from the Latin word for house, which is also the root for maison in French and Mansion in English. It referred to 'house workers' who were also called menials.

28. Emotionally strained : TAUT.

30. Cabinet dept. created under LBJ : HUD. Part of his Great Society legislation the Housing and Urban Development  Department was created to protect home buyers and foster home ownership and urban growth.

34. Intertwines : ENLACES. Like your fingers in the church/steeple.

36. Pygmalion's statue : GALATEA. Not the Eliza Doolittle story but the wonderful Greek MYTH.

37. Course number : PAR. This clue was average, par for the course.

38. Touched : FELT.

39. "A Tale of Love and Darkness" author : AMOS OZ. This BOOK about the early days of Israel.

41. Native Coloradan : UTE.

42. Financial Times rival, briefly : WSJ. Wall Street Journal.

46. Train with dukes? : SPAR. Not from Downton, but put up your dukes and box.

47. "I hate to interrupt, but..." : AHEM. Not to be confused with 7D. Shut (in) : HEM.

49. Strasbourg's region : ALSACE. This city is the capital of a region that is between German and France and has changed hands often.

51. In a defensable manner : TENABLY.Last week tenable, this week the LY.

54. Biological reversion : ATAVISM. The human tail which is quite evident in a fetus is the classic example.

58. Newborn raptors : EAGLETS. Birds were dinosaurs.

59. Progress by directed effort : TELESIS. A very Friday word and concept, from the Greek, LINK.


Down:

1. Retiree's attire? : PJS. Just pajama's retiring to bed, not from work, unless you are Hugh Hefner.

2. Knock : RAP. Knock music has no ring to it.

3. "Revenge of the Sith" episode number : III. The last of the prequels. VII is supposedly in the works.

4. Café reading : CARTE. Our French lesson Lolita, for menu.

5. Peace Nobelist two years after Desmond : ELIE. Wiesel. The entire LIST.

6. Time-traveling Doctor : WHO. Who?

8. Pupil controller : IRIS. I love explaining EYES.

9. Swarms : TEEMS.This puzzle teems with tough clues.

10. Scoreless trio? : ESSES. Classic misdirection, look at the clue, don't define it.

12. Formation meaning "neck" in Greek : ISTHMUS. It connects to large bodies, either land or in the body connecting larger parts, such as the Thyroid Isthmus. Not  a happy word if you lisp.

13. N.Y.C. country club? : THE UN. Country Club, really cute, but when I first read this I had already filled it in and was thinking of my friend Michael Theun form wrestling in High School.

17. Broke ground : HOED. They are forever breaking new grounds.

20. Co-tsar with Peter I : IVAN V. Love the co-star anagram pun. LINK. Fun stuff you can learn here.

21. TV cook Deen : PAULA. She gets enough publicity without me.

22. Prominent instrument in "Paint It, Black" : SITAR. The psychedelic instrument of choice. LISTEN. (3:40).

23. British nobleman : EARL. Robert Crawley.

27. Biblical cover-up : LEAF. In the garden of Eden after the apple.

29. Snack in un bar : TAPA. We have lots of places serving tapas in SoFla. They are not all Spanish THEMED.

30. Leggy wader : HERON. For Splynter WATCH.(1:55)

32. Couldn't get enough of : ATE UP.

33. American rival : DELTA. Airlines, not countries.

35. "It's Impossible" crooner : COMO. He ended up living in Jupiter, Florida, SONG.(3:14)

36. Watches with wonder : GAZES AT.

37. Sci-fi writer Frederick : POHL. Wonderful imagination, he married his wife when he was 65.

40. Legal orders : STAYS. Hard one, as there are so many Orders, though Stays especially of execution are important.

43. Harvest sight : SHEAF

44. Tower-building game : JENGA. Remember WHEN? (1:44)

46. Cut off : SEVER.

48. Suburban symbol : MALL.

50. Pasture newborn : CALF.

52. ___ canto : BEL.  Opera term, HOW TO.(7:32).

53. Mil. ranks : LTS. Lieutenants.

55. Prefix with propyl : ISO.

56. It might be original : SIN. Did you SEE? (1:16).

57. Boulder hrs. : MST. Mountain Standard Time and the time zone where my youngest lives and time for me to wrap this up. So what do you all think of this style of puzzle. Rich does not allow a rebus puzzle, how about ones without conventional structure?

Again thanks to all who enjoyed my Charlotte. i also want to send Marti to the ACPT with our best wishes.


Lemonade out.

Thursday, March 7, 2013 Joel Lafargue

Theme: "What's in a name?"

17A. See 60-Across : MALE CAT OR TURKEY. "Tom"

26A. See 60-Across : SLANG FOR A SLEUTH. "Dick"

46A. See 60-Across : BOTHER ENDLESSLY. "Harry"

60A. Trio suggested by the answers to 17-, 26- and 46-Across : TOM, DICK AND HARRY.

Other than the cross-referential clues, this puzzle seemed like a Monday level to me.  Four grid spanners make a nice theme-rich puzzle, with a low three-letter count. For those counting "cheater squares," see the square before 35-Across, and at the end of 43-Across.

Marti here, to see what else is on our plate today.

Across:

1. Theme : MOTIF.  I am most familiar with "MOTIF Number 1," which is located in Rockport, MA and is the most commonly painted scene in the country. It was destroyed in the Blizzard of '78, but subsequently rebuilt.

6. Woody's "Annie Hall" role : ALVY. I finally forced myself to watch "Annie Hall" just last week, so this was a gimme.

10. Slash mark? : SCAR. Ouch!

14. NBC's "Weekend Today" co-anchor Hill : ERICA. Pretty lady.

15. Some parasites : LICE. Anyone have a nit to pick about that?

16. Marching band instrument : TUBA.

20. "Viva el matador!" : OLE.

21. Has the stage : IS ON.

22. Winter airs : NOELS. Not bleak, nippy or polar. The kind of "airs" you sing.

23. Plastic ___ Band : ONO. Oh no...not her again.

24. Summoning gesture : BECK. Yes, it's a real word. For any nose scrunchers out there, think of being at someone's "beck and call."

34. Big name in banking : CITI.

35. Nick-named actor : NOLTE. Cute clue for Nick Nolte.

36. Miss Piggy, to Miss Piggy : MOI. "Who...MOI??"

37. Neglects to mention : OMITS.

39. Communication no one hears: Abbr. : ASL. American Sign Language.

40. Cabbage salads : SLAWS. I just tried a new recipe with savoy cabbage and a dressing made with peanut butter, rice wine vinegar, vegetable oil, brown sugar, garlic, and ginger. Yummm!

42. At an angle: Abbr. : OBL.ique.

43. Leg bone : TIBIA. "...the tibia's connected to the patella" just doesn't have the same ring, does it?

45. Applications : USES.

50. "...to market, to buy ___ pig..." : A FAT.

"To market, to market, to buy a fat pig,

Home again, home again, dancing a jig.

To market, to market, to buy a fat hog,

Home again, home again, jiggety jog."

- Mother Goose

51. Smudge on Santa's suit : ASH.

52. Snowman's accessory : SCARF.

55. Hearing subject : SUIT.

57. Summer shade : TAN.

64. Sword with a guarded tip : EPEE. I just learned that the reason an EPEE has a groove is to "drain away the blood."  (Blood, did you say blood???)

65. Kept: HELD.

66. Shah's fate : EXILE.

67. "Buddenbrooks" novelist : MANN.  Thomas MANN won a Nobel Prize in literature for the book.

68. Wild about : IN TO.

69. Provide room for growth, perhaps : REPOT. Thanks for the reminder - it's getting to be that time of year!

Down:

1. Jogging instrument? : MEMO. Not an i-pod worn while jogging, but a means to "jog" your memory! (Memo to self: REPOT plants.)

2. Unwritten test : ORAL.

3. Roofer's purchase : TILE.

4. Hard water? : ICE. I can attest that ice is very hard water, especially when you land on your keister on it! Then we have 47-Down. Become pitiless : HARDEN.

5. Going up against : FACING.

6. Part for a singer : ALTO.

7. Oz visitor : LION.

8. TiVo ancester : VCR. Boy, do I feel ancient!

9. So far : YET.

10. It precedes "Substituted Ball" in the Definitions section of the "Rules of Golf": STROKE. STR comes before SUB alphabetically. HG, do you carry a set of the rules in your golf bag?

11. Pickled veggie : CUKE. Hands up for "okra?"

12. First family member : ABEL. Because Barack, Michelle, Malia or Sasha wouldn't fit...

13. Tropicana Field team : RAYS. The Tampa Bay Rays, originally called the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, of MLB.

18. Date-setting phrase : AS OF.

19. Rich relatives? : UNCLES.

23. "Count ___!" : ON IT.

24. Story-telling song : BALLAD.

25. Handyman's approx. : EST.imate. I wonder what the estimate was for Splynter's church ramp?

26. Shaggy's pal, to Shaggy : SCOOB.y-Doo

27. Unsettled state : LIMBO.

28. Not straight up : ATILT.  Hands up for those who wanted "on ice"? (Put your hand down, Tin. I know you'd never even think of "on ice"!!)

29. With money at stake : ON A BET.

30. Violinists supply : ROSIN.

31. Member of the Five College Consortium, familiarly : U-MASS. The other five are Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith College.

32. Swimmer's need : TOWEL. Water would be nice, too...

33. Temper tantrum : HISSY.

38. World No. 1 tennis player between Martina and Monica : STEFFI. Navratilova, Seles and Graf.

41. Abundant, plantwise : LUSH.

44. Tax shelter letters : IRA. Individual Retirement Account.

48. Ascribed, as blame : LAID.

49. Old Testament queen : ESTHER. Queen of Persia.

52. Mushroom piece : STEM.

53. Club where "music and passion were always the fashion," in song : COPA. I'll let someone else link the ear worm...

54. "Right on!" : AMEN.

55. Fries seasoning : SALT.

56. Menu choice after an "oops" : UNDO. Cute clue.

57. Dancing blunder : TRIP. Oops!

58. Folksy Guthrie : ARLO.

59. Rostov rejection : NYET. Here's a beautiful image of ROSTOV, located about 175 km NE of Moscow.

61. Sox, in line scores : CHI.cago. (I wanted "BOS.")

62. Boy toy? : KEN. LOL!!

63. Send packing : AXE. OK, OK, I'm out of here. No need to get out the axe!

'Til next week!

Hugs,
Marti

Note from C.C.:

Marti will be competing at the ACPT this weekend. Let's wish her good luck! Say Hello to Marti and her husband Allen if you're there too.