Tuesday, August 20, 2019, Kevin Christian & Kristian House

You Can Bet Your Life.  Each word in the starred theme answer can come After the word Life to give a new phrase or concept.

17-Across. *  Pedigree ancestry: BLOOD LINE.  As in Lifeblood and Life Line.

 Lifeblood.

Life Line

25-Across. *  Suit tailor's concern: JACKET SIZE.  As in Life Jacket and Life Size.

Moses hands out Life Jackets before crossing the Red Sea.

Life Size.

35-Across. *  Nightly ritual for young children: STORY TIME.  As in Life Story and Life Time.

 Life Story.

Life Time.

49-Across. *  Teacher's outline: LESSON PLAN.  As in Life Lesson and Life Plan.

Life Lessons

Life Plan.

And the unifier:
58. "Field of Dreams" subject, and where both parts of the answers to starred clues can go: AFTERLIFE.  (Admit it, your first thought was Baseball, even though it was a letter short.)

Across:

1. New England fish: COD.  More than you ever wanted to know about the Atlantic COD.

4. Seriously injures: MAIMS.

9. Frosh, next year: SOPH.  This year's Freshman is next year's SOPHomore.

13. "Should I take that as __?": A NO.

14. Are: EXIST.

15. Boy Scout unit: TROOP.

19. Luxury Honda: ACURA.

20. "Eight Miles High" band, with "The": BYRDS.

21. Farm building: BARN.

23. Up to, in ads: TIL.

24. The Beatles' "__ Love Her": AND I.

28. Prospective elevator passenger's query: GOING UP?

30. Villain played by Josh Brolin in most "Avengers" films: THANOS.

31. Flock female: EWE.

32. Biblical paradise: EDEN.

34. Olympics segment: EVENT.

38. On the ocean: AT SEA.

41. Red Sox manager Alex: CORA.  José Alexander Cora (b. Oct. 18, 1975) has been the Red Sox manager since 2017.  He played for a number of MLB teams, including, but not limited to, the Red Sox, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Texas Rangers.

42. Topeka's st.: KAN.  Topeka is the capital of Kansas.

45. "I want to see": SHOW ME!  Missouri is known as the Show Me State.

47. "The Lord of the Rings" wizard: GANDALF.

52. "__ all work out": IT'LL.

53. Barcelona gold: ORO.  Today's Spanish lesson.

54. Field mouse: VOLE.

55. Diviner's deck: TAROT.

56. Opposite of sur: NORTE.  More of today's Spanish lesson.  North is the opposite of South.  Did anyone see the 1983 movie El Norte?  it was about a group of people from Guatemala fleeing from ethnic and political persecution during the Guatemalan Civil War.  They trek north to the United States hoping for a better life.

61. Movie legend Greta: GARBO.  Greta Garbo (née Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; Sept. 8, 1905 ~ Apr. 15, 1990) was a Swedish actress.

62. Appliance with burners: STOVE.

63. Actress Vardalos: NIA.  Nia Vardalos (née Antonia Eugenia Vardalos / Νία Βαρντάλος; b. Sept. 24, 1962) is a Canadian-Green actress, best known for her 2002 movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

64. Cannon of "Heaven Can Wait" (1978): DYAN.  Dyan Cannon (née Samille Diane Friesen; b. Jan. 4, 1937) was one of Cary Grant's 5 wives.  They were married for about 3 years in the 1960s.  There was a 33 year age gap between the two.

65. Sinatra classic with Anka lyrics: MY WAY.  My Way is without the video.

66. PIN requester: ATM.  Cute clue for the Automatic Teller Machine.

Down:

1. Sauerkraut, mainly: CABBAGE.  You, too, can make your own Sauerkraut.

2. "Just this second": ONLY NOW.

3. Desperate: DO OR DIE.

4. Drugs from docs: MEDS.  As in Medications.

5. Rose of Guns N' Roses: AXL.  Axl Rose (né William Bruce Rose, Jr.; b. Feb. 6, 1962) is the lead singer of the band referenced in the clue.

Axl is the one without the had.

6. Three on a sundial: III.

7. "Hardball" cable channel: MSNBC.

8. Rib eye, for one: STEAK.

9. Baseball great Musial's nickname: STAN THE MAN.  Stan Musial (né Stanley Frank Musial; Nov. 21, 1920 ~ Jan. 19, 2013) played for the St. Louis Cardinals for 22 years.

10. Beast fought by 47-Across: ORC.

11. Canadian french fries dish: POUTINE.  I had heard of this dish, which is basically french fries and cheese curds topped with gravy.  It is most closely associated with the cuisine of Quebec.  I had an opportunity to try it for the first time this past spring when I was up near the Quebec border.  It was interesting, but I probably wouldn't go out of my way to order it again.

12. Where land and sky seem to meet: HORIZON.

16. Most colorless: PALEST.

18. Chief Norse god: ODIN.  In Norse mythology, Odin is the god of wisdom, poetry, death and magic.

22. Like some mil. officers: RET.  As in Retired.  Fortunately, you don't have to be in the military to retire.

25. Weaponless self-defense: JUDO.

26. Mimic: APER.

27. Goalie's goal: SAVE.

29. "Hurry!": GET A MOVE ON.  My grandmother used that expression a lot.

33. It has both Kings and Queens counties, briefly: NYC.  As in New York City.  I was in Manhattan during the July heat wave.  I had to go through Queens from the airport.

35. Uses needle and thread: SEWS.

36. Roman robe: TOGA.

37. Persian Gulf republic: IRAN.

38. Comparable in duration: AS LONG.

39. "Not Taken" place in a Frost poem title: THE ROAD.

40. "My apologies": SO SORRY!

42. Catastrophic New Orleans hurricane: KATRINA.  Louisiana is still feeling the impact of this storm, which hit the state almost exactly 14 years ago.

43. The whole shebang: ALL OF IT.

44. Cardinals or Falcons: NFL TEAM.

46. Frequent co-producer of U2 albums: ENO.  Brian Eno (b. May 15, 1948) makes frequent appearances in the puzzles.

48. Dashboard feature: DIAL.

50. Suffix with proto- or cyto-: PLASM.  As in Protoplasm and Cytoplasm.

51. Southpaw: LEFTY.  Did you ever wonder where the term Southpaw originated?

55. Low card: TREY.

57. Sched. question mark: TBA.  As in To Be Announced.

59. Disabled car need: TOW.

60. "2 Fast 2 Furious" actress Mendes: EVA.  Eva Mandes (née Eva de la Caridad Méndez (b. Mar. 5, 1974) and Ryan Gosling (né Ryan Thomas Gosling b. Nov. 12, 1980) are a family unit.

Here's the Grid:

I'll leave you with a QOD:  If I didn’t do what I do, I wouldn’t be as young as I am.  ~ Robert Plant (né Robert Anthony Plant; b. August 20, 1948), British musician

Monday, Aug 19, 2019 Julian Kwan

Theme: SLICED BREAD (63. "Best thing" bakery metaphor ... and a hint to each row of circles) -

17. Data-intensive branch of engineering: INFORMATICS. 19. "Positively Entertaining" TV network: ION. RAISIN.

23. God, in Judaism: YAHWEH. And  25. Red-handed: IN THE ACT. WHITE.

 

38. Camaraderie: RAPPORT. And 41. Avant-garde music genre: ART ROCK. POTATO

 

52. Winter hike footwear item: SNOW SHOE and 54. Insect-sized superhero: ANT MAN. WHEAT.

Boomer here.  Hello puzzle masters.  Let me help you get to the CRUST of the matter. Raisin, White, Potato and Wheat bread are sliced up.

Across:

1. Paris eateries: CAFES.  I had a talk with C.C. the other day about the birth of Drive-in Restaurants, (McDonald's, Burger King, KFC etc.). They pretty much cut into the success of the CAFE business. 

6. Abyss: CHASM.

11. Birthday count: AGE.  Of course my age makes me a Baby Boomer. The experience is great.

14. Rack flavoring: SPICE.  There were a group of girls with this last name.

15. Hang in midair: HOVER.  Add an "O" and you have a vacuum cleaner.

16. Easter beginning?: NOR. Nor'easter.

20. After-tax amount: NET.  My after-tax amount is LOOSE CHANGE, but that was too long,

21. Unveiling word: VOILA.

22. Iraq War worries, for short: WMDS.  It is unfortunate that so many countries have them in their silos.

28. Burning crime: ARSON.

30. "__ luego": HASTA.  See you later!  Luckily we don't have too many foreign language words in our puzzles. N'est-ce pas?

31. "Oh dear!": ALAS.

34. Choir voice: TENOR. In my first year I was a Baritone, but then I graduated to Bass.  (Voice, not fish)

36. Judge on "The People v. O.J. Simpson": ITO (Lance). This famous judge holds the judge record for appearing in crosswords.  "All Rise!"

43. Annoying kid: IMP.

44. Greetings from Fido: WOOFS.  Not "Ruffs, or Arfs?"

46. Aired with sharper resolution: IN HD.

47. De-creases?: IRONS.  I like this clue and answer.  Clever play on words that I cannot enhance.

49. Lariat: LASSO.

58. Surfer's ride: WAVE.  I never tried this.  10,000 lakes do not have the waves that "Surf City" has.

59. Makeover result: NEW DO.  Pronounced "NUDE OOU"

61. Self-image: EGO.

62. Approx. landing time: ETA. The "E" for estimated is a word for Sun Country trips.

66. Fish in Japanese unadon: EEL. I Googled this and learned that Japanese have a dish called a unadon with roasted eels.

67. Aspect: FACET.  How many facets on your diamonds??

68. Montana Tech city: BUTTE.  It's pronounced BEAUT.  Not sure if they make Butter there.

69. NFL scoring stat: TDS.  Preseason has started.  I don't pay too much attention until they "Rack 'em up for real."

70. Slanted columns: OP-EDS.  I normally skip this section of the paper.

71. Thumbs-ups: YESES.

Down:

1. CBS forensic spin-off starring Gary Sinise: CSI NY.

2. Sleep concern: APNEA.  I think this is a breathing problem. I am told that I snore, but I don't consider that Apnea.

3. Elegant Manhattan avenue: FIFTH.  Only three blocks from "Puzzlemaster" Mr. Shortz.

4. Environmental prefix: ECO.  Weird things are happening.  July was a super hot month on record, arctic ice is melting.  Soon Manitoba may have more lakes than Minnesota.

5. Diner employee: SERVER.

6. Spiced tea: CHAI.  Popular tea. You can get it at Starbucks.

7. Emergency phone link: HOTLINE.  Always loved the setup in Maxwell Smart's secret control room (Agent 86 ?) Get Smart

8. Birdlike: AVIAN.

9. Jiff: SEC.

10. Doubtfire's title: MRS.  Rest in peace, Robin Williams.

11. Pixar specialty: ANIMATION.  Do they still have cartoons every Saturday morning on TV??

12. "Glad you spotted that error": GOOD CATCH.

13. Surrealist Max: ERNST.

18. Mineral hardness scale: MOHS.  Mayo Clinic offers MOHS surgery for skin cancer.  Created by Dr. Mohs.  The mineral hardness thing, I am not familiar with.

22. Director Anderson: WES.

24. Stinging flier: WASP.  You do NOT want to be stung by one of these nasty flying objects.

26. Norse god with a hammer: THOR.  "If I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the morning, all over this land."  Peter, Paul, and Mary.

27. Kevin of "Central Intelligence": HART.

29. "The Simpsons" bus driver: OTTO.  I can proudly say I have never watched one episode of the Simpson's.

31. MLB's Diamondbacks, on scoreboards: ARI.  Good team, ugly uniforms, especially on the road.  I cannot believe they let Greinke go.  However I think Zack has pitched for about 12 major league teams.  Must be a misfit.

32. Covered with plastic, as an ID card: LAMINATED.  Actually, most of my cards are already plastic, no lamination required.

33. Yeses from bosses: APPROVALS.  I would spell the clue Yesses.

35. Space-research org.: NASA.

37. Gave the green light, briefly: OK'D.

39. Dominates totally: OWNS.

40. __ Hashanah: Jewish New Year: ROSH.  This year starts September 29 and ends October 1.  I am not Jewish but I have many friends that are.  (Plus I like October 1 because that's when Graybar pays the quarterly dividends,)

42. Tear gas situation: RIOT. Did you watch Yankees Indians game last Saturday.?  Brett Gardner, C.C. Sabathia  (Not our C.C.) and Aaron Boone were tossed by the umpires.  It was a RIOT.

45. Bilked: FLEECED.

48. Be in debt: OWE.  I OWE, I OWE, it's off to work I go.  "Bashful, Grumpy, and Doc"

50. DUI-fighting org.: SADD.

51. Stuck-up: SNOBBY.  This is NOT Charlie Brown's Dog.  Good Grief !

52. 1974 hit "__ Home Alabama": SWEET.  "Where the skies are so blue"  Lynard Skynard.

53. Chilling in a cooler: ON ICE.  Many winter Olympic events are held there.

55. Track competitions: MEETS.  These could be Summer Olympic events.

56. Playing marble: AGATE.  I had a bagful when I was a kid.  Most were replaced by cat's eyes.

57. Connection points: NODES.

60. Moistens: WETS.

63. "City by the Bay" airport code: SFO.  In case you missed it last time: A fellow named Bennett passed away and went up to the pearly gates and met St. Peter.  He was issued a harp and wings and asked if a friend of his, Sam Fink was there.  "No one here by that name" said St. Peter, "you may want to check down in the other place."  So Bennett went down there and found Sam who had opened a discotheque and they had a long chat.  But then Bennett said he had to go and went back up to the pearly gates.  St. Peter met him and said, "Aren't you missing something?"  Bennett responded - "Oh my gosh!!  I left my Harp in Sam Fink's Disco."

64. Once around the track: LAP.

65. Lament: RUE.  A Golden Girl.

Boomer

Sunday August 18, 2019 Paul Coulter

Theme:  "Done to a T" - T is added to to the end of each familiar phrase.

22A. Naughty young athlete?: SPORTS BRAT. Sports bra.

24A. Materials on a king's palette?: ROYAL PAINT. Royal pain.

34A "Don't worry about that, Mr. Gingrich"?: IT'S NOTHING NEWT. It's nothing new.

 

52A. "The Alien Simpsons" character?: MARS BART. Mars bar.

55A. Watery world?: SEA PLANET. Sea plane.

77A. Defective phone download?: BAD APPLET. Bad apple.

79A. Large pub band?: BAR NONET. Bar none.

 

94A. Tiny golf course rental?: SUBCOMPACT CART. Subcompact car.

111A. Strategy using a heavily pine-tarred bat?: STICKY BUNT. Sticky bun.

113A. Tiff about a checkup?: HEALTH SPAT. Health spa. 

We've seen adding T or T sound puzzles in LAT before. Paul's has T's consistently added in the end. And he has 10 of them. Heavy themage in a 142-word grid.

Across:

1. Name on toy vehicles since 1964: HESS. Most of rusty toy trucks are Tonka.

5. '50s first lady: MAMIE.

10. Architect Saarinen: EERO.

14. Become unhinged: SNAP.

18. Bridge toll unit: AXLE.

19. Whirlpool brand: AMANA. Just don't buy GE, so glitchy. 

20. "Ah, me!": ALAS.

21. Arcade pioneer: ATARI.

26. Energy-saving tactic: POWER CUT.

27. AOL, e.g.: ISP.

29. Military chaplain: SKY PILOT. New term to me.

30. Platform for Siri: IOS.

31. Cons: ANTIS.

33. Biting: ACERB.

40. Less taxing: EASIER.

43. Pouts: MOUES. Like this.

44. Oxlike antelope: GNU.

45. Syndicate: CARTEL.

47. Chinese culinary general: TSO.

48. Fine things?: ARTS.

49. Cartoon flapper: BOOP.

50. Cabinet dept. with an atom on its seal: ENER.

51. 1995 court VIP: ITO. Lance.

59. Doo-wop syllable: SHA.

60. Big size, in a small way: LGE. Large. "in a small way" just indicates an abbreviated answer.

61. Operatic chorus: BRAVOS.

65. Chip features: RIDGES.

66. Organic fuel: PEAT.

67. Deprive of courage: UNMAN.

68. Ex-baseballer Martinez: TINO. Here he is with a more famous Yankee.

69. Photos, say: IMAGES.

72. Not diluted much, if at all: STRONG.

73. __ v. Wade: ROE.

74. Dusk, to Donne: EEN.

81. Deg. for a writer: MFA.

82. Red analog: BEET. There are also golden beets these days.

84. Trounce, down south: WHUP.

86. Global extremity: POLE.

87. Lulu: PIP.

88. "Ageless Body, Timeless Mind" author: CHOPRA.

90. "__ the fields we go ... ": OER.

91. Graf rival: SELES.

92. They may be driven: CATTLE. Nice clue.

98. Bailiwicks: AREAS.

100. Slogs: PLODS.

101. Bygone New Zealand bird: MOA.

102. Last of seven, for many: SATURDAY. Sunday in Chinese calendars.

105. UFO crew, in theory: ETS.

106. Curbside pickup places: BUS STOPS.

115. Recesses: NOOKS.

116. Miscellany: OLIO.

117. Stand in a studio: EASEL.

118. Adjutant: AIDE.

119. Envy and others: SINS.

120. Fill-in: TEMP.

121. Singer Springfield: DUSTY.

122. Word of medical advice: REST.

Down:

1. Door fastener: HASP.

2. Big show: EXPO.

3. Tedious: SLOW.

4. Arid: SERE.

5. Phillie Phanatic, for one: MASCOT.

6. Waylay: AMBUSH.

7. K follower: MART.

8. Minute or moment lead-in: IN A.

9. Consuming, as time: EATING UP.

10. Secret Service agent's accessory: EARPIECE. I remember watching Chinese version of "In the Line of Fire". John Malkovich killed this nice girl simply because she's from Minneapolis, which I had never heard of then.

11. "Do Ya" rock gp.: ELO.

12. Bottom-feeding fish: RAYS.

13. 1970 World's Fair site: OSAKA. Where Osaka was born.

14. Way up: STAIRS.

15. Nervous habit: NAIL-BITING.

16. Cartoonist Peter: ARNO.  The New Yorker.

17. Big East team: PITT.

21. Court loser's option: APPEAL.

23. Chamber groups: TRIOS.

25. École cousin: LYCEE. "Nice school" would be a Saturday clue. The answer could be either. 

28. RR stop: STN.

31. Part of A.D.: ANNO.

32. Bittersweet farewell: SWAN SONG.

34. Mosque officials: IMAMS.

35. Judaic spiritual text: TORAH. Followed by 36. Buddhist spiritual text: SUTRA.

37. 1987 Costner role: NESS.

38. Gershwin's "__ Rhythm": I GOT.

39. "Poems are made by fools like me" poem: TREES.

41. Cosmetician Lauder: ESTEE. Their best product. So expensive.

42. Origins: ROOTS.

46. Song syllable: TRA.

49. Author Harte: BRET.

53. Obscenity cover-up: BLEEP.

54. Showing shock: AGASP.

56. Former: PRIOR.

57. Bedding: LINEN.

58. Big deal: ADO.

61. Flatter: BUTTER UP.

62. GI's furlough: R N R.

63. Latin lover's word: AMO.

64. Vehicle with sliding doors: VAN. We have a van. We hope to click this Santa Fe back home next year.

66. Links letters: PGA.

68. Under-the-sink assembly: TRAP.

69. High-tech debut of 1981: IBM PC.

70. Underworld society: MAFIA.

71. Novel's screen version, e.g.: ADAPTATION.

72. Oozes: SEEPS.

74. WWII bomber __ Gay: ENOLA. And 76. Desert trial: N TEST.

75. Fisherman with pots: EELER. Always think of this old fisherman. His eels are the best.

78. Debt-heavy corp. takeover: LBO. Leveraged buyout.

79. Pat on the back, maybe: BURP.

80. Crude gp.?: OPEC. Crude oil.

83. Place setting setting: TABLETOP.

84. Fuel storage structure: WOODSHED.

85. Does some tailoring: HEMS.

88. Store employees: CLERKS.

89. Exciting: HEADY.

91. Put away for later: STASH.

93. Rollers on the road: TRUCKS.

95. Bunk: COT.

96. Charm: AMULET. My friend Roberto wears an Evil Eye.

97. Like serious mistakes: COSTLY.

99. Cousin of a clog: SABOT.

102. IRS IDs: SSNS.

103. Yours, to Yvette: A TOI. One more French: 114. Évian water: EAU.

104. "Throw the __ Log On, Uncle John": P.D.Q. Bach madrigal parody: YULE.

106. Low pitch: BASS.

107. Peter the Great, e.g.: TSAR.

108. '60s sitcom boy: OPIE.

109. Stationer's stock: PADS.

110. Editorial "let it stand": STET.

112. Matchstick-removing game: NIM.

Glad Picard's surgery went smoothly. Liquid diet for 2 weeks sounds so hard!

Irish Miss (Agnes) told me her nausea is under control, but the pain is still here. She can now sleep in her own bed, so that's a bit of progress. Please continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers. We need our corner sunshine back to the blog soon.

Light to Right : Anne, Agnes, Eileen, Mar, and Peggy (3/17/2019)

C.C.