Friday, May 17, 2019, Mike Peluso

A Chipper By Another Name Would Still Be a Chipper.  Wait, what?  In this puzzle each time we are given the clue "Chipper" we get an entirely different definition.  Look how the first and last answers span the grid.  The two middle theme answers are symmetrically placed in the grid.  Nice!

17-Across. Chipper: JONES OF BASEBALL.  As in Larry Wayne "Chipper" Jones (b. Apr. 24, 1972).  He was a third baseman for the Atlanta Braves.

27-Across. Chipper: GREEN SIDE IRON.  A golfing reference.  I'll let the golf pros in this group provide you all details.

46-Across. Chipper: IN A JAUNTY MOOD.

56-Across. Chipper: MULCH MAKING TOOL.  This made me think of the wood-chipping scene from the 1996 movie Fargo.  Not for morning consumption, however.

Across:

1. VMI program: ROTC.  As in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps.  Such programs are found on at the Virginia Military Institute as well as many other university campuses.

5. '80s-'90s courtroom drama: LA LAW.  This television drama was on when I was in law school in the other LA.

10. On-call worker: TEMP.  As in a TEMPorary worker.

14. Assert as true: AVER.  A crossword staple.

15. Three-time A.L. batting champ Tony: OLIVA.  As in Tony Oliva (né Antonio Oliva Lopez Hernandes Javique; b. July 20, 1938).  He had a long career with the Minnesota Twins.

16. Pupil's place: UVEA.  As in parts of the eye.

20. Tetra- doubled: OCTA-.  4 doubled is 8.

21. Atonement: AMENDS.

22. Confuse: ADDLE.

25. Wrigley brand: ORBIT.  Chewing gum that comes in all different flavors.

31. Geological time span: EON.

32. Carpenter's joint element: TENON.  It's the projecting piece of wood made for insertion into a mortise of another piece of wood.

33. Hiccup cause: SPASM.

36. Genesis voyager: NOAH.

38. Protector with strings: APRON.  My favorite clue of the puzzle.

40. Mlle., across the Pyrenees: SRTA.  Today's French (Mlle.) and Spanish (Srta.) lesson.  Both are abbreviations for Miss in English.

41. God of Islam: ALLAH.

43. Called from the field: LOWED.  The sounds the cow makes.

45. Bordeaux vineyard: CRU.  More of today's French lesson.  A Cru is a vineyard or group of vineyards of high quality.

49. Rural wagons: DRAYS.

50. Response at the door: IT'S ME!  Sometimes the answer is: It is I, which has the same number of letters.

51. Fair-hiring problem: AGEISM.

54. "I don't like your __": TONE.

62. Tierra en el mar: ISLA.  More of today's Spanish lesson.  The Island (Isla) is a bit of land (tierra) in the sea (el mar).

63. Force to leave: EXILE.

64. Personification of victory: NIKE.  Nike was a Greek goddess.  Here is the winged victory wearing Adidas.

65. Dance basic: STEP.

66. Shemar's longtime "Criminal Minds" role: DEREK.  I have never watched Criminal Minds, however, Shemar Moore (né Shemar Franklin Moore; b. Apr. 20, 1970) played Malcolm Winters on The Young and the Restless for many years.

67. Plus: ALSO.

Down:

1. One of five characters on "The Big Bang Theory" to appear in every episode: RAJ.  Another show I have never watched.  Raj is played by Kunar Naayar (b. Apr. 30, 1981).

2. Ab __: from the start: OVO.

3. Cube root of 1,000: TEN.  Crossword math:  10 x 10 x 10 = 1,000.

4. Spicy cuisine: CREOLE.  Well, I rather suppose this depends upon one's definition of "spicy."    I don't consider Creole to be an especially spicy cuisine, but then, I am accustomed to this style.  The word "Creole" is derived from the word "criollo", which is Spanish or Portuguese for "born in the colony".  The word "Creole" initially referred to the first settlers of European descent in the French colonies, especially New Orleans.

The term "Creole", when referring to food, is a style of cooking that originated in Louisiana, that blends French, Spanish, Portuguese, West African, Native American, Caribbean, German and Italian influences.  Traditional Creole dishes include red beans and rice, jambalaya, gumbo and creole sauce dishes.

5. Plunder: LOOT.

6. Italian wheels, briefly: ALFA.  The Alfa Romero Automobile company was actually founded by Alexandre Darracq (1855 ~ 1931), who was French.

7. Ad-__: LIB.  An appreciation for ad libitum, which is a Latin phrase translated as "at one's pleasure".

8. Director DuVernay: AVA.  Ava DuVernay (b. Aug. 24, 1972) is probably best known for her 2018 film A Wrinkle in Time.

9. Horseradish relative: WASABI.  Wasabi is a plant of the family that includes horseradish.  Apparently, however, most of what American's think of as Wasabi really a mixture of horseradish, mustard and food coloring.

10. Casual summer garments: TUBE TOPS.

This tube top doesn't look very comfortable.

11. Former Indiana governor Bayh: EVAN.  Evan Bayh (né Birch Evans Bayh, III; b. Dec. 26, 1955),  is the son of Senator Birch Bayh, Jr.  Both father and son served as United States Senators from Indiana.

12. Amalgamate: MELD.

13. Chums: PALS.

18. Crime scene clue, maybe: SCENT.

19. Arab bigwigs: EMIRS.  This has become a crossword staple.

22. Gemini rocket stage: AGENA.

23. Eagerly anticipate, with "over": DROOL.

This baby is too cool to drool.

24. North America's highest peak: DENALI.  Mt. Denali is in Alaska.

25. Fragrant: ODOROUS.  I think of odorous as being more stinky than fragrant.

26. Fame: RENOWN.

28. Large expanse: SEA.  Yup.  It goes on and on.

29. Part of the picture: IN PLAY.

30. Busters: NARCOS.

34. Four-decades-plus first name in the Senate: STROM.  As in Strom Thurmond (né James Strom Thurmond; Dec. 5, 1902 ~ June 26, 2003).  He served as a United States Senator from South Carolineafor 48 years.  In 1948, he ran for President as the States Rights Democratic Party candidate.

35. Title role for Bea: MAUDE.  As in Bea Arthur (née Beatrice Frankel; May 13, 1922 ~ Apr. 25, 2009).  She would have celebrated her 97th birthday earlier this week.

37. Links equalizer: HANDICAP.

39. Take-home: NET.  The amount of money you have after taxes.

42. Tough to hear, as criticism: HARSH.

44. Like embers: DYING.

47. Stuck: JAMMED.

48. Medit. tourist attraction: MT. ETNA.  Italian volcano.

51. Author Martin: AMIS.  As in the British novelist Martin Louis Amis (b. 1949).  He wrote the novel Money, which I read, but didn't enjoy.  He is the son of novelist Kingsley William Amis (Apr. 16, 1922 ~ Oct. 22, 1995).

52. Unexpected blow: GUST.

53. Couture monthly: ELLE.

54. Roof piece: TILE.

55. Fraction of a meg: ONE K.  One Thousand (one K) is a fraction of a million (meg.).

57. Men's grooming brand: AXE.

58. Aperitif named for a former Dijon mayor: KIR.  The cocktail is made with crème de cassis topped up with white wine or champagne.  It was named after Félix Kir (Jan. 22, 1876 ~ Apr. 26, 1968), a Catholic priest, resistance fighter and politician.  He served as mayor of Dijon from 1945 until his death in 1968.

59. Good thing to strike: OIL.  The first oil well in Louisiana was drilled in late 1901-early 1902.

60. Signs off on: OKs.

61. Sign of summer: LEO.  Sign of the Zodiac.

Here's the grid:

I'll leave you with a QOD:  The trouble with words is that you never know whose mouth they’ve been in.  ~  Dennis Potter (May 17, 1935 ~ June 7, 1994), British screenwriter and journalist

Thursday, May 16th 2019 Jeffrey Wechsler

Theme: The Modern Prometheus - all the theme entries refer to the alternative title of this novel:

17A. Classic 1818 novel: FRANKENSTEIN. Here's the cover of the first edition:

20A. Unnamed character in 17-Across: THE MONSTER. "It" is known by number of names in the novel, none of them particularly flattering, including "It".

35A. Author of 17-Across: MARY SHELLEY. She wrote the novel when she was 18, she was 20 when it was published. Her, her husband Percy and Lord Byron had a competition to see who could come up with the best horror story.

47A. 1974 portrayer of 17-Across: GENE WILDER. Here's the classic moment from the movie when Wilder meets Marty Feldman's Igor for the first time.

53A. 1931 portrayer of 20-Across: BORIS KARLOFF. A little before my time, but surely everyone has seen Karloff's performance in this classic movie.

So, a nice challenge from Jeffrey, I didn't really get a toe-hold until the SW corner, then it was a question of working across and back up. The Karloff theme entry was my first, then it was just a question of fitting the pieces of the puzzle into place.

There's a lot of fresh fill in the puzzle too. SEED HEADS in the center of the downs was impressive as it crosses all five theme entries. Let's check out the rest.

Across:

1. Expert in Islamic law: MUFTI. A learning moment. I knew the word as a military term for civilian clothes but not the Islamic connection.

6. Classroom tools: RULERS

12. Nation partly in the Arctic Circle: FINLAND. Brrr. Not a whole lot of daylight in winter, either.

14. Left: GONE OUT

15. "I didn't lie!": IT WAS SO!

16. Select, as a jury: EMPANEL. I'm not sure I knew this. Crosses filled in a lot of it for me.

19. Otoscope target: EAR. I learned "oto-" from this photograph of David Niven in his book "The Moon's A Balloon". The caption read "Cupid developed otosis as a result" which sent me scurrying for the dictionary.

24. In a calculating way: SLYLY. Just pipped by "rhythm" as one of the longest words with no vowels.

27. Antipoverty agcy.: O.E.O. The Office of Economic Opportunity. Established by Lyndon Johnson to manage his War on Poverty programs. It was abolished in 1981.

28. Actor Stephen: REA. I had him as RAE first which slowed things down a tad.

29. Prefix with plus: SUR. Surplus.

31. Reduce in status: DRAG DOWN

37. Slapstick reaction: SPIT TAKE. Never heard of this term before either. One of these:

39. Borrow, but not really: BUM. "Not really" because you'e not going to give it back, as in "bum a smoke".

40. "__ you serious?": ARE

41. Talk and talk: YAP

43. Namely: TO WIT

52. "__ scale of 1 to 10 ... ": ON A. Fill it in and move on.

56. King in 1 Kings: SOLOMON

59. Shoulder piece: EPAULET

60. Like some rural bridges: ONE LANE

61. July 4, 1776, notables: SIGNERS. I tried FATHERS first, knowing it was probably wrong. I proved myself right (wrong) eventually.

62. Green field?: BOTANY. Field of study.

63. Campus figures: DEANS

Down:

1. Kind of heart valve: MITRAL

2. Easily led astray: UNWARY

3. Rich dessert: FLAN

4. Something to do: TASK

5. Map box: INSET. Took me a while to figure this out, even though the clue is familiar enough.

6. "Did my heart love till now?" speaker: ROMEO. Yay! I actually knew this.

7. Detach, as a dress pattern: UNPIN. My mom used to make her own dresses, I witnessed lots of unpinning of patterns as a kid.

8. Isn't straight: LEANS

9. Big stretch: EON

10. Deeply regret: RUE

11. Mo. town: STL St. Louis.

12. High winds: FIFES. Nice clue. A fife is a high-pitched flute.

13. Honolulu-born singer: DON HO

14. Go back for a second helping: GET MORE

18. A dandelion's are called blowballs: SEED HEADS. We used to drive my dad nuts blowing the seed heads; as fast as he was trying to get the pissenlit out of the lawn we were just compounding the problem.

21. Fox NFL analyst Aikman: TROY. He's actually pretty good as an analyst; the Cowboys did something right, Tony Romo is a quite excellent announcer.

22. "Ick!": EEW!

23. Fled: RAN

25. Future JD's exam: LSAT

26. Mongolian tent: YURT. Now available as expensive "glamping" accomodations in Big Sur, among other places.

30. Shaggy rug from 12-Across: RYA. Remembered from crosswords past.

32. Kosovo neighbor: Abbr.: ALB. Albania, on the Balkan Peninsula.

33. Surfeit: GLUT

34. How-to presentation: DEMO. I've demoed a lot of software in my time. One of the more enjoyable parts of my work day.

35. Bearing: MIEN

36. Prominent New York City feature: SKYLINE. The most impressive skyline I've seen is Hong Kong island overlooking the harbor, especially at night when all the buildings are lit up in neon.

37. Give a little: SAG

38. Not post-: PRE-

42. Short dogs, for short: PEKES

44. Like some scarves: WOOLEN. This gave me pause for quite some time. I've always spelled it with two "L"s.

45. Works out: INFERS

46. Last family to keep a White House cow: TAFTS. Two cows actually, Wooly Mooly and Pauline Wayne. There's that single "L" again in "Wooly".

48. Dangerous virus: EBOLA

49. Lennon love song: WOMAN. Written for Yoko, as 57D cross-references.

50. Twist: IRONY

51. Fleet: RAPID

54. Heated state: RAGE

55. Large green moth: LUNA. Quite impressive-looking things. I don't think I've ever seen one.

56. One may be choked back: SOB

57. Dedicatee of 49-Down: ONO

58. __ alone: not to mention: LET

And with that, I'm on my way. Have a great day!

Steve

Wednesday, May 15, 2019, Chuck Deodene

Title: BE OUR GUEST.

Lemonade here pinch-hitting for Melissa with whom I shared Wednesdays when I first started blogging here. So this is full-circle for me. I described Mr. Deodene's history here and at the NYT in my most recent write-up of a Friday he built last year, so today I will provide this LINK to some of Chuck's life with words. Today is a hidden word puzzle. I have previously written about doing the London Times Cryptic Crossword with my mother when they began running in NEW YORK magazine. Here is a wonderful ARTICLE which was written by composer STEPHEN SONDHEIM. Remember, this was written in 1968; the modern crossword has incorporated much of the fun of cryptics.  I know some have expressed interest in Cryptics and this is a good primer. Getting back to our puzzle, we have the "hidden" version. Here there are four themers and a grid-spanning reveal. The word GUEST is hidden in the clue in between the words. The first two and the fourth have the split gue/st, the third gues/t. The reveal is fair, but I had the theme long before then.

For a Wednesday, we also have lots of sparkle like DESKSET,  GAS HEAT,  REDOUBT, ECSTATIC,  IT'S A SNAP, PANCREAS, and the odd SCAT SING. Time to move to the next phase...

17A. Sports page table: LEAGUE STANDINGS (14). Most only think of "standing", but each league has its own.

25A. Dissociative condition: FUGUE STATE (10). Dissociative fugue (formerly called psychogenic fugue, or fugue state) is a psychological state in which a person loses awareness of their identity or other important autobiographical information and also engages in some form of unexpected travel. Psychological amnesia.

37A. Makes a case for, with "of": ARGUES THE MERITS (14). For which the topic of oral pierces could be argued.

49A. Intraoral piercing: TONGUE STUD (10). I received a hole in my tongue playing touch football but never consider putting jewelry in my mouth.

57A. Talk show drop-by ... and a literal feature of 17-, 25-, 37- and 49-Across: GUEST APPEARANCE (15). 

Across:

1. Passport stamps: VISAS. Yes but LINK.

6. Improvised knife: SHIV. From "a razor," 1915, variant of chive, thieves' word for "knife" (the1670s) from Romany language.

10. MRI output: SCAN. Actually, it is an image.

14. Capital of Ghana: ACCRA. LINK.


15. "Say Anything..." actress Skye: IONE. Her vowel-rich name is more famous than she is here in crossword land.

16. "__ and Abel": Jeffrey Archer novel: KANE. I really enjoyed his works,

20. Plaza payment: TOLL.

21. Feel remorse over: RUE. I would remove the "over."

22. Winter hrs. in St. Louis: CST. Central Standard Time.

23. Blog entry: POST. Please keep them coming.

29. "Who __ to complain?": AM I.

30. Woman college basketball coach Summitt with an NCAA record 1,098 career wins: PAT. This legendary COACH died in 2016 from complications from Alzheimer's.  Coach K has eclipsed her victory total and Gino Auriemma is catching up.

31. Nairobi's country: KENYA. More Africa. See map above.

32. Insulin-producing gland: PANCREAS. The key to diabetes.

36. Left or right ending: IST. There are so many other choices.

42. Knot-tying vow: I DO. I did.

43. Like big lottery winners, presumably: ECSTATIC. Such a mixed blessing, historically. STORIES.

44. __ pad: STENO. I still use them.

47. Old Mideast org.: UAR. The United Arab Republic.

48. Reggae precursor: SKA. Ska is still around.

52. Carnival: FAIR.

53. Brightness nos.: IQS.

54. 6-Down's sib: BRO.

55. River swimmers: EELS. Not if C.C. gets them. They become a...

63. Repast: MEAL.

64. Char on a grill: SEAR. I'm not sure how many ways she cooks them.

65. Popular Google service: GMAIL.

66. About: AS TO.

67. Singer from County Donegal: ENYA. Eithne Ní Bhraonáin was born on May 17, 1961, in Gweedore, Donegal, Ireland, almost her birthday.

68. Leaf under a petal: SEPAL. I think I just had that botanical discussion,

Down:

1. Actor Kilmer: VAL. A bad Simon Templar and a bad Bruce Wayne.

2. Floe makeup: ICE. Tin are you okay?

3. Perform like Ella: SCAT SING. Is this a Yoda answer?

4. Insider lingo: ARGOT.

5. TV lawyer Goodman: SAUL. The spin-off from BREAKING BAD.

6. 54-Across' sib: SIS.

7. Trending: HOT.

8. Going nowhere, career-wise: IN A RUT.

9. Playhouse, say: VENUE. For a show Mickey Rooney!

10. Navigate slopes: SKI.

11. High-kicking dance: CAN CAN. So many links.

12. Showing insecurity: ANGSTY. A word from the 60s.

13. Snapple rival: NESTEA. This was very hard for me and only the perps did it. I was looking for a more esoteric company.

18. Wee toymaker: ELF. Not Wii.

19. Matching office accessories: DESKSET.

23. Dad: PAPA. I get that from many of my sons' friends.

24. Shortstop Vizquel with 11 Gold Glove Awards: OMAR.  bit obscure but talented fielder.

26. __ the crack of dawn: UP AT.

27. House-warming option: GAS HEAT.

28. Aquarium beauty: TETRA.

33. Stage prompting: CUING.

34. Stronghold: REDOUBT. From Bunker Hill to Yorktown, a feature of military actions during the American Revolution was the redoubt. Of course, redoubts were a fixture in worldwide military operations long before, and long after, that war, but those fortifications built of earth, sod and timber were usually more complex than their simple materials suggest. Journal of the American Revolution.

35. That, in Toledo: ESO. Our Lucina CSO.

36. Online chats, briefly: IMS.

38. Subdued hue: ECRU. The definition is having the color of raw silk or unbleached linen," from French écru "raw, unbleached.

39. "Simple as can be": ITS A SNAP. A very short period of time (figuratively, the time taken to snap one's fingers), or a task that can be accomplished in such a period. Etymology.

40. __ torch: luau light: TIKI.

41. What a tattoo may cover: SCAR. Why? I know many tattoos but none covering a scar.

44. Mark of shame: STIGMA.

45. Kitchen toppers: TOQUES. This hat has become a regular.

46. Put into power: ENSEAT. Ugh. The only good thing about this word is that it could be part of an anagram puzzle.

47. 2019 Pebble Beach event: US OPEN. Golf. SITE.

50. Wipe: ERASE. Computer hard drives.

51. "Weeds" law org.: DEA. Drug Enforcement Agency.

52. Moth attractor: FLAME.

56. Units of energy: ERGS.


58. __ Poke: retro candy: SLO. Never heard of it. The original Slo Poke Caramel Pop was first introduced in 1926 by the Holloway Candy Company.

59. Settle: PAY. The bill.

60. Time to remember: ERA.

61. "Homeland" org.: CIA. I have never watched the show.

62. Turn in the plumbing: ELL. A cute twist to end our tour.

Thank you Chuck; c'mon back mb and thank you all.