Friday, September 6, 2013 Steve Blais

Theme: Science Ed Adding "-ed" to a scientific item (all eponymous names) creates a new fun phrase!

18A Physicist got all wound up?: TESLA COILED. Tesla used his coils in a number of different experiments including the attempt to transmit electricity without wires.

29A Mathematician got ready for a shower?: MOEBIUS STRIPPED. If you cut a Moebius strip in half along its length, you get two loops interlinked, one of which is another Moebius strip. Awesomely weird!

36A Seismologist rose to new heights?: RICHTER SCALED: I'm very familiar with Mr. Richter's scale, living as I do in shaky Southern California.

44A Physicist made an opposing move?: GEIGER COUNTERED. The official name is a Gieger-Müller counter; Herr Müller must have been sore at being frequently forgotten.

61A Microbiologist spread some gossip?: PETRI DISHED. Funny, we had Petri the Pianist on Wednesday. Growing bacterial colonies in one of these was a highlight of high school biology.

Happy Friday everyone. Steve here subbing for Lemonade who is off celebrating Rosh Hashanah. Shanah Tova!

What a nice puzzle from Steve Blais today. I loved the theme - extremely clever to find five scientifically-related objects and add the common suffix. Two 15's, two 11's and a 13 (Thanks, Abejo). Really slick stuff!

Let's check out what else we've got:

Across:

1 Sign of trouble: SOS. Sometimes thought to stand for "Save Our Souls" it doesn't actually stand for anything - the Morse coding 'dit dit dit dah dah dah dit dit dit" was chosen because it is very recognizable.

4 Sword holder: SHEATH

10 San Joaquin Valley concern: SMOG. A concern shared by all of Southern California's valleys.

14 PC core: CPU. Not designated as an abbreviation any longer, originally the computer's Central Processing Unit.

15 Yes or no follower: SIRREE

16 Dance that tells a story: HULA

17 Farm girl: HEN. Third time this week for the egg-layer(s).

20 Prefix with European: INDO-

22 “Enough!”: STOP THAT

23 Race line: START.

25 Fireworks reaction: OOH.

26 “The Stepford Wives” author Levin: IRA.

34 Swing around on an axis: SLUE. Nice word.

35 Sigh of sorrow: ALAS!

42 California’s __ Valley: SIMI. No smog in Simi today - I was there for lunch.

43 Unrefined type: BOOR

52 Explosive letters: TNT. Trinitrotoluene.

53 “I’ll meet thee on the __-rig”: Burns: LEA.  To a Scot, a ridge of land yet unplowed (or unploughed, if you're a Scot).

54 Fur piece: STOLE

55 Socrates, for one: ATHENIAN

60 Selma or Patty, to Bart Simpson: AUNT. Two great characters from the show.

[Homer enters the room]

Selma: Am I wrong, or did it just get fatter in here?

64 Even up: TIE. In the score-tying context.

65 On the lower side, in a heeling vessel: ALEE. We had this on Wednesday with a different meaning.

66 Twitterpated: IN LOVE. A new fun word for me. I was thinking along social media lines until the crosses helped me out.

67 Half of nine?: ENS. Two of them in the word, so 50% of the letters.

68 Insurance deals with it: RISK

69 Conical shelter: TEEPEE

70 Web address component: DOT. The O resolved my El Niño/Niña uncertainty.

Down:

1 Religious split: SCHISM

2 Not against entertaining: OPEN TO. I thought at first this was entertaining in the "having a party" sense, but actually it's the "considering" sense.

3 Cherry-topped treat: SUNDAE

4 Former flier: SST

5 Makes haste: HIES

6 In the past, in the past: ERST. I think the preceding "hies" has a touch of the erst about it.

7 He sang between Melanie and Joan at Woodstock: ARLO. Guthrie's set came between Melanie of no-last-name fame and Joan Baez of useful-last-name-for-crosswords fame.

8 Where to get a brew: TEAPOT. I'd never thought of keeping beer in a teapot before.

9 Victim of Achilles: HECTOR. Before dying, Hector pleaded that Achilles treat his lifeless body with respect. Achilles didn't exactly comply with that request - he decided to drag it back to Troy behind his chariot instead. 

10 LaBeouf of “Transformers” films: SHIA

11 Six, nine or twelve, for three: MULTIPLE

12 Cry for a matador: OLE. "O heck" if he drops his cape.

13 Wander: GAD

19 Greeting to an unexpected visitor: OH HI. Or the Matador to the Bull, having dropped his cape.

21 Saturn, for one: ORB

24 Mrs. Addams, to Gomez: 'TISH. An affectionate contraction of Morticia.

27 Interpret, as X-rays: READ

28 They may be classified: ADS

30 Final: Abbr.: ULT.

31 Mystery writer Grafton: SUE

32 __-Croatian: SERBO

33 Amigo: PAL

36 Nothing, in Nice: RIEN

37 Knocks off: IMITATES:

38 One might be bummed, briefly: CIG. Can you bum anything else other than a cigarette?

39 Almost worthless amount: SOU. A French term originally, now widespread. French slang "sans le sou" means "broke" - without even a sou.

40 Put one over on: CON

41 Fine things: ARTS

42 Pepper or Snorkel: Abbr.: SGT. Not familiar with Snorkel, but very familiar with this

45 K thru 12: EL-HI. Elementary + High (school)

46 Make more changes to: RE-EDIT

47 Fang: INCISOR (Correction: It's CANINE).

48 Greek vowel: ETA

49 Much more than edged: ROUTED

50 Periodic weather disruption: EL NIÑO. I had to wait for 70A to choose between Niño and Niña

51 Not fancy at all: DETEST. Last of the misdirection clues today - I was thinking "plain" for a long time. The SE corner was tough for me.

56 Long migration, say: TREK

57 “Lost” setting: ISLE. Never saw an episode. Apparently it was pretty good.

58 One bounce, on the diamond: A HOP

59 Campbell of “Scream”: NEVE.

61 Birdie plus one: PAR. I'm playing golf tomorrow - hopefully plenty of both. A chap in my foursome had a hole-in-one last time out. My turn!

62 “Hostel” director Roth: ELI

63 Low grade: DEE

That's all from me - have a great weekend!

Steve

Note from C.C.:

"An Evening with the Puzzle Master" - Will Shortz, editor of the NY Times crossword, is visiting Minnesota next Thursday Sept 12, 2013. He'll answer all questions about puzzles. Please click here for details. I think all of Twin Cities crossword constructors will be there.

Thursday, September 5, 2013 Robin Stears

Theme:

  (need I say more???)

17. Group for jive fools? : TURKEY CLUB. I'll go out on a limb and say that I think a "jive turkey" is someone who thinks they know what they are talking about...but don't. It was kind of a '70s slang term, right?

31. Quick swim in la mer? : FRENCH DIP. "The sea," in French, gave the hint for this one. The original sandwich was invented in L.A. Roast beef with "jus" on the side.

46. GI unlikely to pass inspection? : SLOPPY JOE. GI Joe is a common term for a US soldier. A sloppy joe is a really messy sandwich!

60. Reneged on politically motivated funding? : PULLED PORK. Pork barrel politics. DH's favorite! (The sandwich, not the politics...)

OK, now I am totally hungry again!! A really tight theme, with four sandwiches clued with literal interpretations. Fun stuff from Robin.  Let's see what else she has in the pantry.

Across:

1. Behold, to Ovid : ECCE. My Latin 101 helped here.

5. Graded : RATED.

10. Stow on board : LADE.

14. Décembre event : NOEL. The clue is French for December, and the answer is French for "Christmas."

15. Mosul resident : IRAQI.

16. Supply-and-demand subj. : ECON.omics.

19. Boat that can navigate in shallow waters : SCOW.

20. Big name in taco sauce : ORTEGA. I like their "Thick and Chunky" (but I would like it better if they made a "hot" version!)

21. Smooch : KISS.

23. NHL legend : ORR. Boston Bruins' Bobby. Here's his stats.

24. Kingston Trio song that inspired the Boston subway's CharlieCard : MTA. Awww, y'know I had to link this one!

25. "Superman Returns" character : OLSEN. Played by Sam Huntington.

27. Fed. nutrition std. : US RDA. United States Recommended Daily Allowances. Take them with a grain of salt...

29. Great joy : BLISS.

33. Lip-___ : SYNC. ("Oh say, can you sync?")

34. FDR had three of them : VPs. Vice Presidents. John Garner, Henry Wallace and Harry Truman. (I bet you didn't know two out of three!) (I know I didn't!!)

35. Started the day : AROSE.

36. Like single-malt scotch : AGED. Shout-out to Tinbeni!

38. Ran when wet : BLED.

39. Iron clothes? : ARMOR. Fun misdirection.

41. Lingerie top : BRA. Shout-out to Dennis!

42. Short run : DASH.

48. "When Worlds Collide" co-author : WYLIE. Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer. No clue. (Thanks, perps!)

49. Zenith's opposite : NADIR.

50. Tour de France stage : ETAPE. French for "step."

52. Jurisprudence org. : ABA. American Bar Association.

53. Justice Fortas : ABE.

54. Drying oven : OAST.

56. Boring tool : REAMER.

58. Longtime Lucci role : KANE. Susan Lucci as Erica KANE.

62. Rescue teams, briefly : EMTs. Emergency Medical Technician(s)

63. Kiddie's refrain : E-I-E-I-O. Old MacDonald was a bad speller, y'know!

64. Jim Davis pooch : ODIE.

65. Lip : SASS.

66. Sunset ___ : STRIP. Ooooh, I bet you can come up with a more vivid clue!

67. Campus official : DEAN.


Down:

1. Puts in a vault, in a way : ENTOMBS.

2. Refined, as manners : COURTLY. That's how I imagine Keith Fowler...

3. Positive : CERTAIN.

4. Sexy Sommer : ELKE. Oh, I dunno...ya think?

5. Saudi capital : RIYAL. HaHa, got me!  I was thinking of Riyadh...but no, they are not asking for the city, but the currency of  Saudi Arabia. And then we have 22-Across. Bolivian capital : SUCRE. Arrrgh!  SUCRE is the capital city of Bolivia!

6. Parenthesis, e.g. : ARC. Took waaaay too long to figure this one out (added 45 seconds to my time!)

7. Loquacious types : TALKERS.

8. Like some track stars : EQUINE. Horses at the race track, not Olympic runners.

9. "Mine!" : DIBS.

10. Arles article : LES. More French lessons: Had to wait for perps on this one. You can automatically eliminate the three two-letter articles, at least:

                    Definite ("THE")  Indefinite ("A")

Masculine    Le                         Un
Feminine     La                        Une
Plural           Les                        Des

11. Camp David ___ : ACCORDS.

12. Like a Hail Mary pass : DO OR DIE. I had DOOR, and was scratching my head about the ending for it!

13. Swaddle : ENWRAP. meh...

18. They may clash on a set : EGOS.

26. Calif. law group : SFPD. San Francisco Police Department.

28. Poorly made : SHODDY.

30. Shrimp dish : SCAMPI.

32. "The Lion King" lioness : NALA. Learned from crosswords, but I'm guessing a lot of you grandparents out there have seen her first-hand at the movies?

34. Très : VERY. More "Frawnch," as Splynter would say...

37. Hit the big leagues : GO PRO.

38. La ___ Tar Pits : BREA. BREA means "tar" in Spanish, so I guess these are the tartar pits?

39. Talladega's home : ALABAMA.

40. Capybaras, e.g. : RODENTS. Sweet!

41. Coco-Cola producer : BOTTLER. Well...yeh, but...

43. Apple pie order :  À LA MODE.

44. Remote, undesirable locale, figuratively : SIBERIA.

45. Pay heed, in literature : HEARKEN. "Hearken my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere..." (Oh, wait. That starts with "Listen"...)

46. Racers and rattlers : SNAKES. I hate snakes!

47. Ignatius of Loyola follower : JESUIT. Did anyone else have Jesuit teachers? (They were tough!)

48. Garden intruder : WEED. As long as it's not a snake, I don't mind...

51. Hosp. area : PRE-OP.

55. Zoo primates : APES.

57. ... peas in ___ : A POD.

59. Last of the Mohicans? : ESS. (Sorry, Jazzbumpa!)

61. Year in Claudius' reign : LII. Take your pick. He was Roman emperor in XLI, XLII, XLIII, XLIV, XLV, XLVI, XLVII, XLVIII, XLIX, L, LI, LII, LIII and LIV.

Time for me to call it a night! It's already X:III!!

Marti

Note from C.C.:

"An Evening with the Puzzle Master" - Will Shortz, editor of NY Times crossword, is visiting Minnesota next Thursday Sept 12, 2013. He'll answer all questions about puzzles. Click here for details. Please join us. I think all of Twin Cities crossword constructors will be there, including yesterday's LAT constructor Victor Barocas.