Sunday, February 22, 2015 Alex Vratsanos

Theme: "The '60s*" - Each theme entry has 6 T's.

39A. *Congressional authorization of its creation was partly contingent on its forbidding

polygamy : UTAH STATE CONSTITUTION. Some sects there still practice polygamy.

45A. *Gossip : TITTLE-TATTLE

67A. *1976 Doobie Brothers hit : TAKIN' IT TO THE STREETS. Gimme, D-Otto?

93A. *Knocking sound, in Joyce's "Ulysses" (longest palindromic word in the OED) :

TATTARRATTAT. Neat trivia. Learning moment for me.

98A. *"No lie!" : THAT'S THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH!

28D. *Jolson classic : TOOT, TOOT, TOOTSIE

So did you get the theme before coming to the blog?

Very seldom do we get an asterisk mark in the theme title. Rich might be worried that the theme is tricky for solvers to grasp. Some might think those long 10's in the Across spots are theme answers. Normally when we have asterisk marks in theme entries, we have a reveal entry.

Construction-wise, this puzzle is technical feat.

Across:

1. Alice's cat : DINAH.  "Alice in Wonderland".

6. Dix follower : ONZE. 11 in French.

10. Site of the house that inspired "American Gothic" : IOWA

14. Bikini specs : C-CUPS

19. "Fear of Fifty" author Jong : ERICA

20. Vacuum : VOID

21. Diagnostic tool : MRI SCANNER. And 25. Criminals are often behind them : PRISON BARS. Lovely stack of 10's crossed by WIIMOTES (12D. Nintendo controllers).

23. Kid : JOKE AROUND. One more 10.

26. Blood-typing letters : ABO

27. Show mastery of : SHINE AT

29. Parrot : MIMIC

30. Tenn. athletes : VOLS. Tennessee Volunteers.

32. Money changers?: Abbr. : EDS (Editors). Money magazine.

33. Purposeless : OTIOSE. Not a word I use.

36. IRS hiree : CPA

46. Skipped town, maybe : MOVED

47. Newsman Roger : O'NEIL. Hey, AILES has the same letter count.

49. Ship staff : MAST. Tricky "staff".

50. From one tone to the next, in music : STEPWISE. New concept to me.

53. Vouchsafes : BESTOWS

56. Han River capital : SEOUL. Of course I was thinking of the Han River in China.

59. Henri's here : ICI

60. Fleur in heraldry : LYS. Or LIS.

61. Ward with Emmys : SELA

62. "So-o adorable!" : AWW

64. Mild, chili-wise : ONE ALARM. How high can you go?

73. Terminus : END POINT

74. With 123-Across, personal annoyance : PET. And 123. See 74-Across : PEEVE

75. Judge : DEEM

77. Pacific finger food : POI. Never had it. But I like baked taros & taro cakes.

80. "You Gotta Be" singer Des'__ : REE. We had this singer before.

81. Zenophile? : STOIC. Zeno the Stoic.

84. "Plum Island" author Nelson : DEMILLE. Marti & Hahtoola might have read this book.

86. Apple sites : ORCHARDS

89. Bone: Pref. : OSTE. Also OSSE.

91. Metroliner successor : ACELA

92. Shrek creator William : STEIG

103. Red team : SOX

104. Little work for a gardener? : BONSAI. Cute clue/answer.

105. Educational org. : PTA

106. The Aragón feeds it : EBRO

107. As a companion : ALONG. Oh, like in "Come along".

109. 1930s Rhine/Zener experiment : ESP TEST. Another learning moment for me.

113. L.D.S. school : BYU. Why did you go to BYU, Barry G? Were you a Mormon for sometime?

114. When vacations often don't start? : SOON ENOUGH. True.

119. Experiment subjects : GUINEA PIGS. Great entry also.

121. Alabaman, e.g. : SOUTHERNER

122. Walked : TROD

124. They're under heads : TORSI. Not NECKS.

125. "A Series of Unfortunate Events" villain Squalor : ESME. No idea. But inferable given Salinger's "For Esme – with Love and Squalor".

126. Six-yr. pols : SENS (Senators)

127. De-pressurized? : EASED

Down:

1. "I've seen this before" feeling : DEJA VU. Sparkling fill.

2. Asimov classic : I, ROBOT

3. Inventor on Serbia's 100-dinar note : NIKOLA TESLA. Full name!

4. Opening day starter : ACE. And 43. One making many calls : UMPIRE

5. 2011 FedEx Cup winner Bill : HAAS. Son of Jay Haas.

6. Egg-shaped : OVOIDAL. Same as Oval, right?

7. Morphological component, in linguistics : NOUN STEM. Another word I never used, but  inferable.

8. Fan mag : ZINE

9. Source of Norse mythology : EDDA

10. Mischief-maker : IMP. Hi there Spitzboov!

11. "Catch-22" pal of Yossarian : ORR

13. St. Francis' home : ASSISI

14. "Is it okay, mom?" : CAN I

15. "Mad Money" network : CNBC

16. Italian article : UNA

17. Rate word : PER

18. Many AARP members: Abbr. : SRs

22. Tailed orbiter : COMET

24. Butler created by Mitchell : RHETT. "Gone With the Wind".

31. Asian mushroom : SHIITAKE. When I worked in Guangzhou, my lunch was often rice noodles with shiitake.

 

34. Blowup cause : TNT

35. U.K. component : ISL (Island)

36. __ service : CIVIL

37. Art of verse : POESY

38. Long range : ANDES

40. 1944 invasion city : ST LO

41. DFW postings : ETAs. Dallas–Fort Worth.

42. Docket item : CASE

44. Trailer, say : TOW

47. Dictionary cousin of arch. : OBS. Obsolete.

48. Bygone depilatory : NEET

51. Out of vertical : TILTED

52. French game in which the king is the highest card : ECARTE. Do any of you play this game?

54. Roam : WANDER

55. Ran through a reader : SWIPED

57. Durham sch. : UNH

58. Jack Reacher creator Child : LEE

63. Yemen became its 160th mem. in June, 2014 : WTO. Unaware of the trivia. But it was a big deal when China joined WTO in 2001.

65. Ophidiophobe's fear, perhaps : ASP. OK, fear of snakes.

66. Great Society program : MEDICARE

68. Shabbily dressed : IN RAGS

69. "My country __ ... " : 'TIS

70. Prov. bordering four Great Lakes : ONT

71. Kids' TV quartet : TELETUBBIES. Four main characters from left to right: Tinky Winky, Laa-Laa, Po & Dipsy.

 

72. Get cash for : SELL

76. __ culpa : MEA

77. Goal pair : POSTS

78. Bug-B-Gon maker : ORTHO

79. Climber's implement : ICE AX

82. World Golf Hall of Famer Aoki : ISAO

83. Corner key : CTRL

85. Falcons quarterback Ryan : MATT

87. Good guess in Battleship : HIT. Another game I never played.

88. WWII weapons : STEN GUNS

90. 1991 Pinatubo event : ERUPTION

94. Common batteries : AAS

95. Sched. opening : TBA

96. Doesn't blow off : ATTENDS

97. Coquette : TEASE

99. Sirloin alternative : T-BONE

100. Writer __ de Balzac : HONORE

101. __ Lie, first U.N. secretary-general : TRYGVE. One more learning moment for me. He's Norwegian.

102. Contained : HOUSED

107. "A Bug's Life" colony : ANTS

108. City near Provo : LEHI. We see OREM more often.

110. Boot camp NCOs : SGTS

111. Immaculate : PURE

112. Gift-wrapping aid : TAPE

114. Retiree of 2003, briefly : SST

115. Winning combo : OOO

116. Possession indicator : OUR

117. Marvel : GEM

118. The Battle of Austerlitz precipitated its end: Abbr. : HRE. Stumper for me.

120. Royal pain? : PEA. "The Princess and the Pea".

C.C.

Saturday, Feb 21st, 2015, Jonathan L O'Rourke

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing Q,V)

Blocks: 27

  Upon reviewing our list of constructors, Mr. O'Rourke has but one prior LAT puzzle, dating back to Oct 30, 2011 - a Sunday, and from the same year I started doing the Sat blog.  I was able to do 75% of this one, but the SW corner was just crash and burn - too many proper names/locations, and as a result, kinda sucked the life out of this otherwise engaging excursion.  Oh well.  Triple 9- and 10-letter corners, and two 11-letter spanners - one which I knew immediately, but didn't know the exact spelling;

30. "Die Hard" cry adapted from an old cowboy song : YIPPEE KI YAY - I was really close - just had an "I" at the end of yippie....one of my favorite movies, all time, and I like to watch it at Christmas

43. Range for some power measurements : ZERO TO SIXTY - in reference to cars, but the definition just doesn't jive with me....it's not really a measurement of the power so much as the rate of acceleration - which might be incredible, but have no reflection on the actual 'power'; take the Jaguar XF diesel - only gets up to 140mph, but it's 0-60 is 5.9secs.  I tested my 2000 Dodge Stratus about two years ago - 11+ seconds.  258,000 miles ago, it probably got close to 140mph.

DCLXVI~!

[Gasp~! The number of the beast~!]

ACROSS:

1. Modern location code : IP ADDRESS

10. Vertical sides : JAMBS - doors and windows, e.g.

15. Ability to stand? : TOLERANCE - I can tell you, my tolerance got pretty high when it came to alcohol, which leads to the next clue/answer;

16. "What I always get" : USUAL - like, say, Scotch, NO ICE~!!!

17. Baby, for one : SPICE GIRL - dah~! Clever. the others;
Scary, Sporty, Ginger & Posh

18. Ward cry? : NURSE - "it's medication time~!"

19. "Bless __ ...": Psalm 68 : YE GOD

20. "Shadow of the Vampire" Oscar nominee : DAFOE - no clue; WAG

22. Mr. __!: old detective game : REE - get it~?  Mister - ree....?  Har-har

23. Churchill's "so few": Abbr. : RAF

25. Chess tactic : PIN - new one to me, since I have played a lot of chess, but I get it

26. [Oh, my!] : "GASP~!"

27. Reagan era mil. program : SDI - the "Strategic Defense Initiative", which the media referred to as "Star Wars", and since I grew up with the movie/myth, found it a little insulting

33. Trap catchings : LINT - This took WAY too long....might be because I was at the restaurant and in a 'lobster' & 'crab' frame of mind

35. Wager : LAY - meh. I get it, but.

36. Get comfy : NESTLE - I do hope to get to nestling, soon - and she's wearing 65a.~!

37. "The Hangover" star : ED HELMS - totally unhelpful for me - not only did I NOT see the movie, but I still have no desire to, either, and I don't recognize the actor - IMDb

39. Is worth something, in dialect : AIN'T HAY - once the first "A" filled in, I got this

40. Fifth-grader's milestone, maybe : AGE TEN - ARGH~!  ELEVEN fit, too, and I was 11 in 5th grade

41. One may involve a homonym : PUN

42. Like the Negev : SERE - Dah~! Not ARID

46. "The Spanish Tragedy" dramatist : KYD - Had to cheat the "K" - Natick, in the truest sense; two names crossing?  Ouch.

47. Behan's land : ERIN - Duh.  Sounded IRAN/IRAQ at first

48. Robot extension? : ICS - Robotics

49. Chinese dynasty during Caesar's time : HAN - WAG - but, three letters...?

51. Little : BIT - This puzzle frustrate you~? A "bit".

52. "__ yourself!" : BRACE

54. 1946 Literature Nobelist : HESSE

58. Nice parting : ADIEU - That's "Neece", the Frawnche city

60. Baklava flavoring : ROSE WATER - I thought it was going to be honey-something

62. One removed from the company? : LONER - Two's company, three's a crowd; one's a loner....like me  ;7(

63. Cocktail portmanteau : APPLETINI - I can never remember the definition of portmanteau when I see it in crossword clues; need to remember it's a 'name' derived from parts - in this case, an apple-flavored martini

64. Start using Twitter, say : LOG ON - ugh.  I don't "tweet"

65. Victoria's Secret purchase : BOYSHORTS - I prefer seeing these on a woman over a thong any day, twice on Sunday

DOWN:       

1. Tiny : ITSY

2. Urban, e.g. : POPE - did not fool me

3. Boorish Sacha Baron Cohen persona : ALI G - I saw Borat, and stopped there

4. Style : DECOR

5. 1993 rap hit : DRE DAY - Dr. Dre

6. Low-quality paper : RAG

7. Home of Phillips University : ENID - ugh.

8. Full of spunk : SCRAPPY - I wanted sNappy, but it was too short

9. Instagrammed item : SELFIE

10. __ bug : JUNE

11. Pac-12 sch. whose mascot carries a pitchfork : ASU

12. "Swingin' Soiree" DJ : MURRAY THE K - this would have been a very neat corner were it not for the "K"....and the guy was before my time - his Wiki

13. It doesn't include benefits : BASE SALARY

14. About to crash? : SLEEPY-EYED

21. About 1.8 tablespoons, vis-à-vis a cup : ONE-NINTH - Funny, but "ELEVENTH" worked here, too, and since I don't usually divide my cups this way....

24. "Double Indemnity" genre : FILM NOIR

26. Basic ideas : GISTS

27. Despicable sort : SLEAZEBALL

28. Australian wind : DIDGERIDOO - ah, the musical instrument; I was thinking along the lines of some sort of "DEVIL ZEPHYR" - Bzzzt (pun intended)

29. Willing consequence? : INHERITING - Doesn't look right, but it is - "I bequeath..."

31. Step on stage : PAS - meh meh meh meh - Frawnche

32. Grasp : KEN - and yet I nailed this three-letter fill

34. Jackson Hole's county : TETON

38. Court call : LET - DAH~!  I was in 'law' court, and thought it was OYE

39. TV input letters : AUX - Hmmm, didn't think it was VCR

41. 1980s "SNL" regular : PISCOPO - OK, I cheated - I got as far as PI---, and could not think of his last name - but I knew he was a guest in one episode of Law & Order

44. Sacred beetle : SCARAB - Hey~!  One answer I felt confident about~!

45. Name derived from the Tetragrammaton : YAHWEH - once I had ----EH, there weren't too many names you could think of

50. "Far out!" : NEATO

52. Cheat, in slang : BURN 

53. Notice : ESPY

55. Hullabaloo : STIR

56. Text status : SENT

57. Most massive known dwarf planet : ERIS - fascinating - I did not know about this; did you, Husker~?  The Wiki. Take a look at its orbit

59. Fair-hiring initials : EEO - DAH~! Went with EOE, which is 100% right, and yet still wrong - correct, D-Otto~?

61. 2012 British Open winner : ELS - three letters and an open winner~? Try ELS

Splynter