Saturday, Jun 15th, 2013, Brad Wilber

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing V,W,X)

Blocks: 33

   Thought I was doomed on this one, with almost nothing in the Mid-North and NE corners - then one quick change and a solid W.A.G. got me enough to fill the grid - but alas, with two bad entries.  Seemed like a continuation of yesterday's proper names run, too (I count 18+ "*"), and yet another deceptive layout offering just two double stacked 11's inside the edges again, and two vertical 9's;

21. Barbecue sauce additive : LIQUID SMOKE - JACK DANIELS fit, too

25*. "Hard Times" chronicler : STUDS TERKEL - never heard of this guy, and crossing 8D., was one of my bad entries

46. They're often discounted : FLOOR MODELS - I'm all for floor models and demo units - I can live with something being 'Scratched and Dented" before I get it; it adds character, and there's none of the anxiety of being the dumb-ass who does ding it first....

51. Skipped nothing : RAN THE GAMUT - RAN THROUGH fits if I skip something

6. Capricious : ARBITRARY - I thought arbitrary meant "bearer's' discretion"; that's def. #1; turns out that def #4 is this one, meaning "unreasonable"

32. Folk instruments named for a Greek god : PAN FLUTES

T-minus 56hrs 9mins onward~!

ACROSS:

1. Philip II's force : ARMADA - I did not fill this in immediately; I was thinking of Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, husband of Queen Elizabeth II; you have to understand, my parents were born and raised in England, so the royal family gets a lot of attention

7*. Gaelic name for Scotland : ALBA

11. "Top Gun" fighter : MIG - ah, not "ACE", and once this changed, 11D. revealed itself

14. On-call accessory : BEEPER

15. Saturnine : DOUR

16. Plug extension? : OLA - Plugola - new to me; it's essentially a payment to get one's product prominently mentioned in TV and films

17. Egyptian symbol used as a logo by the band Journey : SCARAB - Cool album cover

 

18*. "__ and the Paycock": O'Casey play : JUNO

19*. Garfield's veterinarian : LIZ - and I believe Jon's occasional date, too

 

20. West end? : ERN - WestERN

24. Rejections : NOs - for those keeping track, I had to scrub the Home Depot mission TWICE because a certain girl was not there two days in a row; I have been holding off on getting a custom paint color made so I have a reason to go back, but it's holding up the completion of the job....

26*. Wizard revealer : TOTO - Toto, the dog, yanks the curtain in the Wizard of Oz

28*. University of Latvia locale : RIGA

29. Whiz : SAIL - As in "I whizzed through that test"

30*. Rockefeller's successor : MONDALE

32. Civil : POLITE

34. Powerful seniors' lobby : AARP - getting awful popular in CWs lately

35*. Mandlikova of tennis : HANA - I remembered her name as ANNA first

36. What a shrug may indicate : APATHY

39*. CIA director before Petraeus : PANETTA

42*. Lagoon of Venice resort : LIDO - Travel tips for those interested

43*. Random House co-founder : CERF

44*. Sam's twin in "Lord of the Flies" : ERIC

50. Miss the mark : ERR

52. Sushi staple : AHI

53. Two after epsilon : ETA

54. Sistine Chapel ceiling depiction : EDEN - not ADAM, not EROS; one place I would like to see in my time

55. Vestiges : TRACES

57. Agnus __ : DEI

58. Graduation party rental : TENT

59. Deerstalker feature : EAR LAP - this hat, of Sherlock Holmes fame

60. WWII spy gp. : OSS

61. Needlework in a parlor : TATS - tattoo parlor, that is

62. Brisk : SPEEDY

DOWN:

1. Cutting, maybe : ABSENT - from school

2. Family game night site : REC ROOM

3. Will, barring obstacles : MEANS TO

4. National Poetry Mo. : APRil

5. Gives everyone a hand : DEALS - card games

7. Deem : ADJUDGE - D'oh~! I put in assuage, and knew that was wrong

8*. Mrs. John Quincy Adams : LOUISA

9. Cake pan trademark : BUNDT

10. Materialized : AROSE

11*. Hawaiian island once used as a quarantine site : MOLOKAI

12. "Thumbs up!" : "I LIKE IT~!"

13. Epitome of grace : GAZELLE

22*. "The Old Curiosity Shop" villain : QUILP - no clue, all perps, the Wiki

23*. Prehistoric toon boss : MR. SLATE - Fred's boss; I confuse him with Mr. Spacely sometimes

27. Partying it up : ON A TOOT - DAH~! not "on a TEAR"

31. Morse code unit : DAH - hey, wait, that's my word~!

33. A : ONE - there are a few ways 'one' could explain this; or is that "a" blogger?

35*. Scheherazade's milieu : HAREM - Learning moment for me

36. Ristorante sauce : ALFREDO

37*. Eponymous workout creator Joseph : PILATES

38*. Keats, in a Shelley title : ADONAIS

39. Hairsplitting types : PEDANTS

40. Cloying sentimentality : TREACLE

41. Space cadet : AIRHEAD

43. Well-expressed : COGENT

45. Like fried wontons : CRISPY

47*. Fictional blockade runner Butler : RHETT

48*. Argonauts' helper : MEDEA

49. Narrow band : STRAP - I tried STRIP first

56. Is for more than one? : ARE

Splynter

Note from C.C.:

Happy 48th wedding anniversary to Bill G and his wife Barbara!

Barbara & Bill

Bill & Barbara

Left to Right: Bill's daughter, grandson Jordan, Bill & Barbara

Friday, June 14, 2013, Marti Duguay-Carpenter

Theme: B all you can be, but silently.

Well while marti is off in Italy I sit with the pleasure of presenting another Friday Frolic. This a combination of add a letter and a sound alike punny theme. with a B added the end of the first word of the first and fourth theme answer, and to the end of the last word of the middle two. Each B is added after an M and is silent in the new phrase, so it sounds exactly like the old one but with a twisted and amusing meaning. Lots of proper names, some hard clues and lots of new stuff to go along with some standard 4 letter fill. Let's see what our traveler has left us.

18A. Like a door with three people squeezing through it together? : JAMB PACKED.(10). I think the phrase jam packed comes from the roaring 20's when people would cram into phone booths. CED, I wasted 15 minutes looking for a good clown car video, but I gave up.

33A. Where to find wool? : ON THE LAMB.(9).Once again an Old Norse word, LEMJA, which mean to beat, is credited as being the origin of 'on the lam' to mean to "beat it."

45A. Out-of-control carpenter's tool? : WILD PLUMB. (9).If you watch the US Open golf this weekend you will see many plumb bob the line of the their putts. Splynter can explain the real use of the tool.

63A. Title for Shakespeare? : IAMB LEGEND.(10). The funniest and the one that is different because it takes two words and crunches them together with the B to make the new word. Will loved his Iambic Pentameter, so this is a very witty way to change the Will Smith movie.

Across:

1. Go like heck : ZOOM. An onomatopoeic word.

5. Code name : MORSE. The man who created one, Samuel. (1)

10. Lose on purpose : DIET. Misdirection, but this should not have fooled anyone.

14. Upper hand : EDGE.

15. Hodgepodges : OLIOS. A favorite word of the Corner.

16. Lincoln who was the first screen Tarzan : ELMO. In the silent movie days; the full hour is available LINK. (2)

17. D.C. dealers : POLS. miss m. should know better, NO Politics!

20. Maker of Dex-Cool antifreeze/coolant : PRESTONE.(3)

22. End of a conductor's shout : ABOARD. All aboarddddddddddddddddddddddd.

23. "Cotton Comes to Harlem" director Davis : OSSIE.(4)

24. Alice's restaurant : DINER. The Beer and Pizza joint my youngest works at in Denver was on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives.

26. Biol. branch : ANATomy to go with ogy.

29. Temperaments : NATURES. Do many of you have bad tempers? Or is life good and you...

37. Great way to have it : MADE.

38. Milne joey : ROO. Kanga's little one from Winnie the Pooh's world. (5)

39. Helpers of the ill-suited? : TAILORS. Love the phrasing of this clue. My grandfather was a tailor.

42. Long-nosed fish : GAR. Arg, not another Gar!

43. Expressionist Nolde : EMIL. Never heard of this PAINTER. (6)

47. Rauch who plays Bernadette on "The Big Bang Theory" : MELISSA. TBBT, and the little Mrs. (7) Howard, with the big...bangs.

50. Depression : DALE. Not mental but in the field.

51. Name that means "cool breeze" in Hawaiian : KEANU. Another learning moment for me; where is Mr. Reeves these days, anyone NEO? (8)

53. Like the columns in the Jefferson Memorial : IONIC.I will never forget, Ionic, Doric or Corinthian. (9)

57. Lava rock : BASALT. Do we have any geologists in our midst to explain this ROCK.

60. Nickname for Mendelssohn's Third Symphony : SCOTTISH. Not in my wheelhouse. A SAMPLE.(8:09) (10)

65. Troubling spots : ACNE.

66. Chanteur Jacques : BREL. A male singer and crossword favorite.(11).

67. Dropped the ball : ERRED.

68. Fraternity letters : RHOS.

69. WWI German vice admiral : SPEE. He was actually born in Denmark. READ. (12)

70. Hornet homes : NESTS.

71. P.D. ranks : DETS. Police Department has detectives.

Down:

1. Marx Brothers straight man : ZEPPO. The youngest of the brothers and the handsome ONE.(2:56).(13) He married Frank Sinatra's ex.

2. Stinks : ODORS.

3. Looks lustfully at : OGLES. Like looking at long legs in sheer nylons, hmm.

4. Delivery man? : MESSIAH. Really difficult cluing; and another taboo topic.

5. "Got My ___ Working": 1957 Muddy Waters song : MOJO. This SONG. (14)

6. Buck heroine : OLAN. From her Pulitzer Prize winning The Good Earth. (15).

7. Covered with frost : RIMED. I wish I had a quip that rhymed.

8. __ sister : SOB. From the old days when women journalists could only write puff. HISTORY.

9. Andorra neighbor, locally : ESPANA. Spanish for Spain. (16).

10. Propriety : DECORUM. We had to write an essay in 7th grade about how to maintain decorum and Peter Wylie said, you need to water it, and use good dirt.

11. "Now, Voyager" actress Chase : ILKA. She was the daughter of the editor of Vogue. (17)

12. Hosp. area : EMERgency.

13. Broadway barber : TODD. Sweeny, the play about the butcher barber.(18)

19. Support in a swindle : ABET. Aiding and...

21. Belief : TENET.

25. Shown so you can't miss it : IN BOLD. Just like every answer in the write ups.

27. In the manner of : A LA. From the French.

28. LPGA golfer Yani Tseng's homeland : TAIWAN. She was number 1 in the world of ladies golf last year, but has slipped.(19)

30. Prego rival : RAGU. (20).

31. Netherlands export : EDAM. One of marti's cheesy fill.( I will let this one slide).

32. Certain Slav : SERB. They have their own version of religion, Serbian Orthodox, similar to Greek and Russian.(21).

33. Utah Valley University city : OREM. A repeat performance for this little city.(22).

34. Iditarod terminus : NOME. It means clear waters and begin in Anchorage and takes a couple of weeks with 16 dogs as the average team.(various sources). (23).

35. Exhausting effort : TOIL. Boil and Bubble.

36. 11th-century date : MLI. 1051, so?

40. Nutritionist's no. : RDA. Recommended Daily Allowance.

41. Take a hike : SPLIT. Like go on the lam?

44. Charming : LIKABLE.

46. Suit in a circus : LEOTARD.Suit?

48. Peddle : SELL. Not your bicycle, but your wares.

49. Bed sheet material : SATEEN. Not to be confused with Satin.

52. Manipulators : USERS.

54. Specialized market segment : NICHE. I keep looking for mine.

55. Isn't expanded? : IS NOT. I love this simple deception.

56. Mating game : CHESS. Wonderful misdirection clue,.

57. Strained-carrot holders : BIBS. I should be seeing Charlotte in a few weeks.

58. Group with many boomers : AARP. They gave up as an acronym and this is the official name now. (24).

59. Fictional pirate : SMEE .He's back and number 25.

61. Tech news website : CNET. (26).

62. Track figures : ODDS. I bet you all got this right, even if you did not have any of the triple crown winners.

64. MBA hopeful's test : GRE. Graduate Records Examination. Whew.

Did this feel like taking a test in college? Really proper name intensive, lots of misdirection and marti mayhem. I hope she is enjoying herself, and it was nice of her to leave us a present. Speaking of presents, I am presently tired, so see you all next time.

Lemonade

Note from C.C.:

Happy 44th wedding anniversary to dear JD and Bob!