Friday, November 15, 2013, Jerry Edelstein

Theme: I'LL be back.

The sound of "I'LL" is attached to the end of in the language phrases to create a new and entertaining phrase. The second effort in the LAT by JE, who was introduced to us by Argyle back on D-O's birthday. All the words that are added on to are three letters, with only one part of a three word phrase. This type of consistency is part of creating a sound grid, I am told. Structurally, this does not seem like a Friday puzzle, as many of the words are 3 or 4 letters long, but the cluing of many of those requires some patience to find the fill. let's see where he takes us this time.

16A. Porky's jacket and tie? : PIG STYLE. (Pig Sty) (8). Another cartoon reference; I like cartoons.

27A. Prohibition at the Ivory soap factory? : NEVER SAY DIAL. (Never Say Die) (12). My favorite, mental picture, with lots of bars of soap floating in the factory.

44A. Pre-law classroom exercise? : COLLEGE TRIAL. (College Try) (12). Along with Beer a common Friday topic.

60A. Bad place to be shipwrecked? : EVIL ISLE. (Evil Eye) (8). My favorite SCENE. (2:58).

Across:

1. "__ goes!" : HERE. I needed to wait on this simple phrase.

5. Runway model? : JET. Really cute misdirection, and a way to make a three letter answer Friday word.

8. Brewery shipments : CASES. The Friday Beer reference out of the way early.

13. U.S. citizen : AMER. Ooo, a tortured abbreviation.

14. "Come __ the sea, / Maiden with me": Thomas Moore : O'ER. How appropriate here at poetry central that we have this POEM.

15. Area : LOCALE. The what becomes of hicale?

18. Hunter's trophy : ANTLER. Normally we nit about an unnecessary plural, here I wonder how a hunter would get just one.

19. Source of many dialogues : PLATO.

20. Big name in game shows : MERV. Griffin, who brought back Jeopardy and created Wheel of Fortune as well as having his own talk show, years as a band singer and hung out in Manhattan with Eva Gabor.

22. FDR power program : TVA. Tennessee Valley Authority. one of the earliest and most comprehensive of programs in response to the Great Depression.

23. Longing : YEN. Do Japanese people long for money when they are short?

24. Circle : REVOLVE. Revolve the wagons just does not have the same zip.

32. __ ghanouj: eggplant dish : BABA. The dip, quite yummy. Learn HOW.

35. Theoretical foreigners, briefly : ETS. Aliens, Extra Terrestrials

36. Declaim : ORATE.

37. Twist et al. : OLIVERS. I like it better when a second one is added, like Twist and Hardy, but that may be too easy for Friday.

39. Compact containers? : GARAGES. Another simple but effective misdirection.

41. It rarely happens at home : STEAL. A baseball clue, hidden here.

42. Equinox mo. : SEP. Along with MAR.

43. "__ you be my neighbor?": Mister Rogers : WON'T.

48. 1993 Disney acquisition : MIRAMAX. Nobody really knows this, but after a while it emerged.

49. More, in Morelia : MAS. Roberto Duran now denies saying "No mas" in the Leonard fight.

52. Spice : ZIP.

55. Daredevil Knievel : EVEL. More "evil' in our puzzle; where is Mike Myers?

56. "Awake in the Dark" author : EBERT. Movie critic intensive lately. BUY?

58. Waiting to buy tickets, say : IN LINE.

63. Allows : GRANTS.

64. Sermon topic : SIN. Do they sin in Cincinnati?

65. Making waves, perhaps : ASEA. An A word that is very common in puzzles.

66. Excites : SENDS. YOU SEND ME. (4:19).

67. Geometry shortening : TANgent. One way to get a gent in this room.

68. Go down : SINK. Well, I guess it is time to go to the down clues.

Down:

1. __ hour : HAPPY. Are we really limited to 60 minutes of joy per day?

2. Rousseau's "__, or On Education" : EMILE. No clue as to this BOOK.

3. Duke of Cornwall's wife, in Shakespeare : REGAN. In King Lear, who also has been popular lately. Love me the Shakespeare.

4. Back then, back when : ERSTwhile. A real but probably archaic word.

5. Delight : JOY. More than hour.

6. Fish with no pelvic fin : EEL. So that's the difference.

7. Seismograph readings : TREMORS.

8. __ belt : CONVEYOR. This is nice long, original fill, which I had from the perps.

9. Legislative decision : ACT.

10. Season, in a way : SALT.

11. Height meas. : ELEV. Denver really is 5280 feet.

12. Day song word : SERA. We had this song as the basis of a punny theme answer last week.

15. Baby bug : LARVA. Hi John Lampkin.

17. Rent : TORE. Really very difficult clue/fill, as the mind wants to think of a lease payment, not a garment ripped apart. As I said, while the puzzle has lots of short fill, like earlier in the week puzzles, much of the cluing is challenging.

21. Little League starters? : ELS. A nice change from the Golfer Ernie, clue.

25. "Oh, when will they __ learn?": Seeger lyric : EVER. The only song for which I know all the words.  Where have all the flowers, gone. Especially if you live up north.

26. November honorees : VETS. A few days late, but we all should honor our vets every day of the week.

27. Maritime : NAVAL.

28. "Gone With the Wind" feature : DRAWL. The Southern accent affected by the cast.

29. "Aladdin" parrot : IAGO.

30. "... with __-foot pole!" : A TEN. I would not touch that with a ten foot pole...

31. For fear that : LEST. I end up with all those cooties.

32. Bartlett cousin : BOSC. The most famous pear pair.

33. Musical range : ALTO. Another theme word returns.

34. Jessica of "Total Recall" (2012) : BIEL.  The remake of the Arnold movie. Two minutes for the boys. LINK. (2:03).

38. Halogens, e.g. : ELEMENTS. Our periodic LESSON of the day.

39. Lysol target : GERM.

40. Samoan port : APIA. The capital and largest city. I love the Mai Kai restaurant here in Fort Lauderdale and their Polynesian show.

42. Most hackneyed : STALEST. hey I know some of the jokes are old, but...

45. Hosts : GIVES.

46. Poetic preposition : ERE.

47. Dorothy Hamill maneuver : AXEL. Always a shout out to our dear departed Clear Ayes.

49. Soccer star Lionel who won the Ballon d'Or each of the last four years : MESSI. For those who like to shout GOAL. (2:06).

50. "Stormy Weather" composer : ARLEN.  Great song by HAROLD.

51. Salisbury __ : STEAK.

52. Sharp turns : ZIGS. Do not zag.

53. Memo start : IN RE. Latin. 59D. Great Lakes st. : INDiana. 62D. Place to retire : INN. A final misdirection, not where you go when you are through working.

54. Blueprint : PLAN.

57. Decision clouder : BIAS. Oddly phrased clue.

61. Through : VIA. Latin.

I did not struggle too much with this one but it did take work, and I hope you all did not either. Thank you Jerry and see you next time. We begin with Porky and end, that way. BYE. (0:09). Lemonade.

Thursday, November 14, 2013 Mark Bickham

Theme: "Homophonic Letter Strings"

18. *Make it not hurt so much : EASE THE PAIN. "E E E E"

23. *Marching order : EYES FRONT. "I I I I"

36. *Has unfinished business with the IRS : OWES BACK TAXES. "O O O O"

51. *Entice with : USE AS BAIT. "U U U"

58. *Sagacious : WISE AS AN OWL. "Y Y Y Y"

53. MLB team, familiarly (and what's missing from the sequence found in the answers to starred clues?) : THE As.

I can't think of any common phrase that begins with Aze (with the "long A" sound), can you? So the unifier is the perfect cop-out, IMHO.  Lots of fun clues with plenty of misdirection that kept the V8 can busy. Let me show you what I mean...

Across:

1. Moll's leg : GAM. Well, OK. This one was easy, but just wait...

4. Word after fire or power : DRILL.

9. Like some wedding dresses : LACY. Sexy was my go-to choice here.

13. Biblical priest who trained Samuel : ELI.

14. Zellweger et al. : RENEES.

16. Together, in music : A DUE.

17. Architect's add-on : ELL.

20. Tre times due : SEI. Italian "three times two."  Bill G., can you help me with the answer here? (^0^)

21. Bark relative : YIP. Oh man, I was thinking tree bark.

22. IHOP array : SYRUPS. I wanted "stacks."

26. Type of cranial nerve : OPTIC.

28. Role for John Cho in "Star Trek" : SULU.

29. Jets and others : TEAMS. Because NFLers wouldn't fit...

31. __ nutshell : IN A.

32. Mex. neighbor : USA.

34. Motor extension? : OLA.

35. At any time : EVER.

40. Spot on the tube : TV AD.

41. Good buddy : BRO.

42. Play about Capote : TRU.man.

43. Ran across : MET.

44. Film critic Jeffrey : LYONS. Did not know him. All perps.  He agrees with the Tomatometer 0% of the time on "Rotten Tomatoes"?

46. Long haul : TREK.

49. __ de Chine: light fabric : CREPE. This wedding dress doesn't look LACY or sexy!

54. Eggheads : BRAINS.

56. Govt. surveillance group : NSA. National Security Agency.

57. PTA meeting site : SCH.ool. Abbr. in the clue gave me the hint.

60. __ out: barely make : EKE.

61. Aleutian island : ATKA. Population 61 !  Map.

62. Faunae counterparts : FLORAE.

63. Grassy area : LEA.

64. Harness part : REIN.

65. Yeats' "The Wild __ at Coole" : SWANS. I did not know this poem, but it was a WAG…I didn't think Yeats would wax poetic over "geese" or "ducks."

66. Many AARP The Magazine readers: Abbr. : SRS. Seniors.

Down:

1. Silly sorts : GEESE. Ahh…here's our geese!

2. Strike zones? : ALLEYS. Boomer! (Bowling alleys.)

3. Social setting : MILIEU.

4. Mr. Holland portrayer : DREYFUSS. I thought Richard Dreyfuss was brilliant in "Mr. Holland's Opus."

5. Put on again : REAIR. I had "Re-don."  D'oh!! TV, not clothes...

6. Hip joint : IN SPOT. Hip, meaning "cool" or "trendy." Great misdirection!  I really wanted "pelvis" but it just wasn't working...

7. Author Harper : LEE. "To Kill a Mockingbird."

8. Conversation opener : LET'S TALK. "Come here often?" wouldn't fit.

9. Drink à la Fido : LAP UP. Anyone else for "slurp"?  Show of hands?

10. Capable of change : ADAPTIVE.

11. Cookbook categories : CUISINES.

12. Nikkei Index currency : YEN.

15. Lacking the required funds : SHY. Tricky little clue for a three-letter answer.

19. Winged god : EROS.

24. Turned around : SLUED.

25. Opponents of the '60s-'70s New Left : NEOCONS. Neoconservatives. I won't get into politics...

27. Golf, for one : CAR. Another really tricky clue for a three-letter answer. VW model.

30. Simpsons creator Groening : MATT.

33. "Eight Is Enough" wife : ABBY.

35. Bedroom community : EXURB.

36. Orthodontic concern : OVERBITE.

37. Ride the wake, say : WATER SKI. Ya mean, they do it on water, too???

38. Awakenings : AROUSALS.

39. Some auction transactions : ART SALES.

40. "Movies for movie lovers" network : TMC. The Movie Channel. I always get TMC and TCM mixed up, and I watch them both.

44. "Aren't you a little short for a Stormtrooper?" speaker : LEIA. She was talking to Luke, and I think she probably regretted those words… 0:28

45. Isabel Allende title : SENORA.

47. Stands for things : EASELS. See? See?  I told you there was tons of misdirection in the puzzle.

48. Any of the top 25 NFL career scoring leaders : KICKER.

50. Song of praise : PAEAN. Trivia fact: When the USS Pueblo was captured by North Korea in 1968, they forced Captain Bucher to write a confession. He penned, "We paean DPRK, we paean their great leader Kim Il Sung."  What the North Koreans didn't know, was that he was using "Paean" as a homophone of "pee on," instead of singing their praises!

52. Egyptian dam : ASWAN.

55. Bad check letters : NSF.

58. Card game for two, usually : WAR.

59. "What are you waiting for?!" : NOW! I am done…

Til next week!
Marti