Saturday, October 26, 2019, Debbie Ellerin

Themeless Saturday by Debbie Ellerin

Debbie is a "longtime puzzle solver" who caught the constructing bug in 2014. She has been published in the NYT, the LA Times and the WSJ. She is a former computer programmer who splits her time between LA and Boston. She spends her free time reading, watching MSNBC and traveling to visit her two children.

 Debbie has said she was proud to introduce the fill of NOTORIOUS RBG (Ruth Bader Ginsburg) in a recent NYT puzzle. Jeffrey Wechsler used that fill at this venue recently.

I seemed to move along very nicely and appreciated the clever cluing.

Across

1. Tablets that shouldn't be used with water: I PADS - Oops!

6. Mandela's org.: ANC.

9. Actress Andersson of "The Seventh Seal": BIBI - Her IMBD site

13. Officers-to-be: CADETS.

15. "Just asking": NO REASON 

17. Put on the throne: ENSEAT - Neither me nor any of my online dictionaries recognized this word

18. Israeli self-defense system: KRAV MAGA - Combat contact in Hebrew. The bemused look on this confident young lady's face should tell you she knows how to employ KRAV MAGA as you can see in this Video

19. Longest note?: SOL - Three letters but I'll bet you've seen it as SO occasionally or even SEW - a needle pulling thread.

20. What some goggles may enhance: NIGHT VISION.

22. Notre Dame legend: ROCKNE 

24. Sci-fi antagonist: HAL - In 2001: A Space Odyssey, HAL even reads lips and turns the tables on his human "masters" who were going to disable him

25. Had a bite: ATE.

26. Palm tree starch: SAGO - The start of the process of making SAGO in Tonga

27. Piece of advice: TIP.

29. Original Monopoly token still in use: TOP HAT.

31. Microsoft line: I'M A PC 3. 31-Across, e.g.: AD SLOGAN - and then...

33. Tormentor's retort: SAYS ME - The playground response to "SAYS WHO?"

35. Language group that includes Swahili: BANTU.

36. Poet's preposition: ERE.

37. Beethoven's "Bagatelle in A Minor" honoree: ELISE - Granddaughter's name and the first real piece she learned on the piano

41. "Good enough": IT'LL DO - Understated golf partner says "IT'LL DO" when someone compliments his good shot.

43. Acknowledge quietly: NOD AT.

44. Jerry or Cherry: GARCIA.

47. Meditative sounds: OMS.

49. Poses: SITS.

50. Corrida support: OLE.

51. H, to Hercules: ETA - Ηρακλής (ETA, rho, alpha, kappa, lambda, eta, zeta). Hercules in Greek

53. Expects: AWAITS.

55. "Hold that thought": PUT A PIN IN IT - From WWII meaning to put the pin back in the hand grenade. Maybe that is what this soldier should have done

58. Blackjack need: ACE.

60. Spokane and Omaha: AMERINDS.

61. Christie creation: POIROT - Who's your favorite Hercule? I've named mine is at the bottom of this write-up*

63. Faux elixir: SNAKE OIL - Origin of the phrase

64. First name on the original "Get Shorty" movie poster: ELMORE - You may have to blow up the image a lot to see credit given to the author of this novel whose first name is ELMORE (Leonard)

65. Uses roofing material, say: TARS.

66. Get it: SEE.

67. Valuable veins: LODES.


Down:

1. Finishes in the bakery: ICES.

2. Wide view: PANORAMA - An iPhone in the process

4. It's barely passable: DEE - JFK's 8th grade Average of 77.00 would have gotten him a DEE on my grading scale

5. Got booed, maybe: STANK.

6. Egyptian life symbol: ANKH 23. Like some Egyptian churches: COPTIC - The COPTIC church founded by Saint Mark when Egypt was under the reign of Nero retained the ANKH from their pagan religion as a link to the after world

7. True __: NORTH - The variation between true NORTH and magnetic NORTH is called declination

8. Fancy neckwear: CRAVATS - The forerunner of today's neckties

9. Mah-jongg suit, familiarly: BAMS - Short for BAMBOOS

10. "Swords into plowshares" source: ISAIAH - A lovely sentiment 

11. El Museo del Oro city: BOGOTA - The Museum of Gold in Columbia contains this display

12. Caught, perhaps: IN A NET.

14. Tour of duty: STINT.

16. It's a bad sign: EVIL OMEN.

21. Theodor whose middle name was Seuss: GEISEL.

26. Member of the fam: SIB.

28. Longtime "SNL" announcer: PARDO - Those of us with some more mileage on our tires remember Don PARDO working with Art Fleming on Jeopardy

Don PARDO       Art Fleming

30. House speaker after Ryan: PELOSI.

32. Toots: CUTIE PIE.

34. Royal attendant: YEOMAN - An interesting read

38. Annual Alaskan sporting event: IDITAROD - The route map contains one of our old cwd friends - an INSET

39. 1600 is a perfect one: SAT SCORE - Ah, the old bell curve

40. UFO personnel, it's said: ET'S.

42. Some Spanish speakers: LATINOS.

44. Overshoot: GO PAST - The Eagle Lunar Module did overshoot its landing site by four miles but Neil turned off the computers and brought the craft down safely 

45. Smith grad: ALUMNA - Alumna, Alumnae, Alumnus, Alumni

46. Injure again, as a ligament: RETEAR.

48. Run through a reader: SWIPE - Oops!

52. Actress MacDowell: ANDIE - I remember her in one of my favorite movies

54. Coral Sea sight: ATOLL 

56. Bulky boats: ARKS - This bulky boat built in Kentucky as a tourist attraction  is both an ARK replica and a lemon as it is losing money every year

57. Canaries component: ISLE - The canary shown below on one of the Canary ISLES is named for the islands not the other way around. These volcanic ISLES were originally named canariae insulae ("islands of dogs") for the large dogs that residents kept there

59. Saint-Tropez seasons: ETES.

62. Texter's qualifier: IMO.

So, waddya think of Debbie's puzzle? IMO, it made for a nice Saturday exercise

*My favorite Hercule Poirot portrayer is David Suchet who is the bottom left of the gallery 

Friday, October 25, 2019 David Alfred Bywaters

"Jack and the Beanstalk"

17. Bingeing on chicken pieces?: WING FEEDING.   - Wing Ding

 

26. Roman naturalist's baseball-playing namesake?: PLINY THE FIELDER.  - Pliny the Elder

 
43. Prize coveted by competitive trees?: BEST OF THE FOREST.  - Best of the rest

57. Sports Officialdom Illustrated cover image?: PHOTO OF UMPS.  - Photo ops

 "Ari, get the press ready for photo ops in the White House lawn.  I'll be pardoning the Thanksgiving turkey."   And then this happened:

37. Source of the fairy-tale sequence that creates four long puzzle puns: GIANT.



Across:

1. Bewildered: DAZED. and confused. - Led Zeppelin.

6. Public row: SCENE.

11. Friend: PAL.

14. Missouri tribe: OSAGE.

15. Lake that ultimately feeds 8-Down: HURON.    And... 8(D):  Lake ultimately fed by 15-Across: ERIE.

16. "__ we good?": ARE.

19. Meadow: LEA.

20. Vote against: NAY.

21. Employee's request: RAISE.

22. Tale of Achilles and Agamemnon: ILIAD.

24. Tasting room container: CASK.

25. Soon, to a bard: ANON. This was the prevalent definition way back when.
In the age of internutland, it's the abbreviation for a poster that writes under the cloak of anonymity.

33. Climbing and passing places: LANEs.  For any flatlanders:  "Large vehicles can present problems for other traffic on hilly terrain and may lead to risky passing behavior with limited sight distances. Climbing lanes provide additional capacity on uphill grades to allow faster traffic to pass slower traffic without the increased risk of making the passing maneuver in the opposing traffic lane."  US DOT 

34. Preserves, in a way: CANs.

35. "Hooray!": RAH.

36. Inch, e.g.: UNIT.

39. Interlaced: WOVE.

40. Executive gp.: MGT.

41. Chart entries: HITs.

42. Tailed orbiter: COMET.

47. Negotiate a green: PUTT.  One thousand one,  one thousand two,  one thousand three...

Never a doubt !

48. Echelon: RANK.  Yeoman is not a rank.

49. Airport conveyors, or what are sometimes placed on them: BELTs.

51. Wispy clouds: CIRRI.  

53. Spanish she-bear: OSA.

56. __ Today: USA.

60. Apple product: MAC.

61. Superficial: OUTER.

62. Boredom: ENNUI.

 63. Take to court: SUE.

64. Is crowded (with): TEEMs.

65. Falls from the sky: RAINs.

Down:

1. Low: DOWN.  Glum.  Melancholy.

2. Nearly 9% of Earth's surface area: ASIA.

3. Half-baked: ZANY.

4. Chicken producer: EGG.

5. Pays a share of: DEFRAYs.  Paul Coulter used defray in last Tuesday's puzzle.

6. Arab leader: SHEIKH.

7. Subjects of bovine mastication: CUDs.

9. Denial from Denis: NON.

10. Auto mechanic's concerns: ENGINEs.

11. Pop or tot, e.g.: PALINDROME.  Evil olive. 

12. Bailiwick: AREA.

13. Heavy metal: LEAD.   Listen to the band cited at 1A for an example.   Rolling Stone's ranking of the 40 Greatest Led Zeppelin Songs

18. Right on the map: EAST.

23. Web prefix with cat: LOL.

Know Your Memes: LOLcats

24. Tech review website: CNET.

25. "__ Nobody's Business": blues standard: AIN'T.    Always liked the clue "Is not wrong."

26. Assess the depth of: PLUMB.   This word was also in last Tuesday's puzzle. 

27. "Blue Sky" Oscar winner: LANGE.   Tommy Lee Jones and Jessica Lange starred.

28. Where everything should be: IN ITS PLACE.

29. Online money: ECASH.

30. Ventilation source: FAN.

31. Roof edges: EAVES.

32. "I can't go all my life waiting to catch you between husbands" speaker: RHETT.   "Where shall I go?  What shall I do?"    "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

37. Donation: GIFT.

38. Big comm. company, once: ITT.     ITT_Inc.

39. __ load: WORK.  

41. Trendy nightclub: HOTSPOT.   The best hotspots in '80s Houston were in the Galleria area of the West 610 loop.    Gilley's wasn't bad, but it was a long drive from the NW side.


42. Pine, e.g.: CONIFER.

44. Son of Akhenaten: TUT.    By an undetermined wife.   His stepmother was Queen Nefertiti.   Nefertiti and Akhenaten had a daughter that Tut married.  So he married his stepsister and his stepmother was his mother in law. - Summarized from a NatGeo reading.

45. Box score statistic: ERRORS.  2 by the Nats and 1 by the Stros in this game:

46. Gambling game involving matching cards: FARO.

49. Borrows without returning: BUMS. 

50. Jacob's brother: ESAU.

51. Dove home: COTE.

What is a dovecote?

Sheep and pigeons also live in cotes.

52. List part: ITEM.

53. Hyatt competitor: OMNI.

54. Like a web: SPUN.

55. Sale warning: AS IS.

58. Tint: HUE.

59. Duessa's foe in Spenser's "The Faerie Queene": UNA.   The Faerie Queene - Characters


Check you entries against this grid:

Notes from C.C.:
 
Look who are here: Lemonade,  his wife Oo and Jeffrey Wechsler. Lemonade said "We had a very nice long visit, the only benefit of a long layover on our way home from visiting Oo’s mother and son".

Thursday, October 24th 2019 Christoper Adams

Theme: Acronym Antics - the revealing acronym tells us what ties the theme entries together, to whit:

66A. Bottomless buffet acronym spelled out by the ends of 17-, 31-, 43- and 60-Across: A.Y.C.E.

So we go back and find:

17A. "Are we done here?": IS THAT ALL?

31A. "Tsk tsk": SHAME ON YOU

43A. "Might be able to help": I THINK I CAN

60A. "Not hungry, but not not hungry either": I COULD EAT

I'm super-conflicted about this puzzle - on the one hand, the fill was wonderful - modern cultural references, unusual but great words, fresh clues for old chestnuts - "A"'s all around. And then we get to the theme. I just thought it was a lot less than lackluster - the theme words were, well, the same as the theme words. The "ALL YOU CAN EAT" reveal has theme entries which end in the same word, with the same part of speech or definition. It was all just "meh". I'd have preferred the theme entries to end with those letters, not with that word. In fact, almost to point up the example, I COULD EAT has CAR SEAT directly above it. I'd call that out as bad anyway, but it served a purpose to make my point.

I've been binge-watching "The Great British Bake-Off" recently, so in the words of one of the judges who, while always critical, looks for the positive "Your flavors were great, but it looked terrible".

Let's trot smartly along and look at the sparkle:

Across:

1. Dermatology issue: CYST. ACNE went in, ACNE came out. What did I say about being too impulsive?

5. Sources of foreign aid?: AU PAIRS. Great clue. I fondly remember Jette, a Danish au pair I dated in London so many moons ago the moon was still young.

12. Learned: HEARD. "So I heard".

14. Sacagawea's people: SHOSHONE. Nailed it! Getting better at American history. Sure taken long enough!

16. Aquarium growth: ALGAE

19. Rio neighborhood of song: IPANEMA. I've been fortunate to visit Ipanema. I walked by the beach, and ate a snack of grilled chicken hearts with a mid-morning beer. It was the weekend, in my defense, but I do enjoy the Brazilian vibe.

21. "Me Talk Pretty One Day" writer David: SEDARIS. Great author, not to everyone's taste.

22. Takes turns?: SPINS. Spins around, turns around.

24. Coarse cloth: TWEED

25. When an early voyage may start: AT DAWN. On the morning tide.

28. Metal giant: ALCOA. Aluminum/Aluminium. Spell-check likes them both, to my delight.

33. Harsh cry: YAWP. Great fill. Could be many things, YELP disqualified because of 2D, but what a great word. This one made my Word of the Day list.

37. Light touch: PAT

38. Chocolate treat: BROWNIE. Are all brownies chocolate? A question I've never asked myself, I suppose they are.

40. Letter before sigma: RHO

41. __ song: SWAN

45. "... let's play two!" ballplayer Banks: ERNIE. The Cubs' legend was a journalist's dream for quotes, this one:

"It's a beautiful day for a baseball game, let's play two!" and this after he retired from playing a game he loved: "I've never worked a day in my life". What a great man. Banks was named to the CTA board in 1969 and said "For one thing, I want to make sure that the "E" always stops at Wrigley".

47. Set of chromosomes: GENOME

48. Avalanche: SPATE. I see a spate as a minor avalanche. From the same family though.

51. Din: NOISE

53. Traveling tot's spot: CAR SEAT

56. Sounded indignant: SNORTED. You can snort when you laugh, snort when you're indignant, or snort when you're an overpaid bond trader. We'll leave that one alone.

62. Of service: UTILE. I wish this word was "utilized" more often. It's so elegant.

63. A-ha hit that won six MTV Video Music Awards: TAKE ON ME

64. Assisted through difficulty, with "over": TIDED

65. Macy's logo feature: RED STAR. Also a Serbian soccer team with a great history. "Red Star Belgrade" in English, "FK Crvena zvezda" in their native tongue. Hard to see how to get one from the other.

Down:

1. Tazo choice: CHAI

2. App with many pans: YELP

3. "Star Wars," for one: SAGA

4. Classic Pontiac: TRANS-AM

5. Malay or Mongol: ASIAN

6. Stammering syllables: UHS. Hesitant syllables, yes, stammering? No. I stammered quite terribly as a child and a teen, I couldn't make a phone call until I was in my early 20's. I found my own answer, but watching "The King's Speech" was difficult.

7. Kettles and kitties: POTS. "Kitties" had me wondering, then - Oh! The ante in a poker game - pay into the kitty, or the pot.

8. Second African-American inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame: ASHE. Pop quiz - who was the first?*

9. "There was no other choice": I HAD TO. 

10. Disintegrate, as old wood: ROT AWAY. Fresh, nice fill.

11. Drum kit item: SNARE

13. Area that's hard to find while surfing?: DEEP WEB. You'll never find it while you're surfing. The parallel universe of the internet.

15. "A Jew Today" writer Wiesel: ELIE

18. Trip letters: LSD. Leave by Saturday Dinnertime? No, not quite.

20. Study on the side: MINOR IN. The verb, not the noun. I was a little stumped by this one. I got MINOR through crosses, then tried to see what would slot in the last two squares.

23. Pouring instruction: SAY WHEN. Don't ask me that.

25. Well of Souls threats in "Raiders of the Lost Ark": ASPS. Yay! Not a "Nile biter". Huzzah for Indiana Jones!

26. Soften: THAW

27. Info: DATA

29. Actress Anderson: LONI

30. Bringing up to speed: CUING IN. I think this is wrong. If I was bringing someone up to speed, I'd "clue them in". If I was marking their entrance, I'd "cue them in",

32. Formal "It wasn't me": NOT I

34. With the bow, in music: ARCO. Cheap gas in SoCal, that's how I remember this one.

35. "Pow!" relative: WHAM

36. Fried Dixie bread: PONE

39. Just makes: EKES OUT

42. Kimono sash ornament: NETSUKE. A lovely word. A storage purse which hung from the obi which evolved into a highly-decorative item. I know a Japanese lady who has a beautiful scrimshaw netsuke hard-carved around 150 years ago.

44. Subject of Newton's first law: INERTIA

46. Nearly fell: REELED. You reel from a punch, but don't go down.

48. Poli __: SCI. I was wondering about this the other day - what is the curriculum for Political Science? It seems to me to be more of an art form. I need to read up on it.

49. Agreement: PACT

50. Like a cheering crowd: AROAR

52. JusSimple juicer maker: OSTER. I will remember this brand until the day I day. I think I told you before, I dropped an Oster blender jug and tried to cushion the impact on my tile kitchen floor with my bare foot. The result? The jug bounced off my foot, cracked a toe and shattered anyway when it hit the floor. I was picking up shards of glass for days.

54. Foofaraws: ADOS

55. Camping gear: TENT

57. Orderly: TIDY

58. Power co. output: ELEC. Least favorite fill of the day.

59. "__ Dinah": Frankie Avalon hit: DEDE

61. Doc's org.: A.M.A.

And so to close, to sleep, to dream. Here's the grid!

Steve

Wednesday, October 23, 2019, Gary Larson

Theme: CANDY COAT. A timely Halloween theme, these are all candies that might be found in a trick-or-treat bag. Clueing for this had to have been chewy. (See what I did there?)

17. Treats for a comedian?: SNICKERS. Favorite theme clue, and favorite candy bar.

26. Treats for a teacher?: SMARTIES. This is where the theme appeared for me. Remember Horshack, the penultimate smarty-pants?

40. Treats for an oil tycoon?: GUSHERS. Here's an impressive one. But not near as impressive as the Lakeview Gusher Number One in Kern County, California, in 1910. It created the largest accidental oil spill in history, lasting 18 months and releasing 9 million barrels (1.4×10⁶ m³) of crude oil.

50. Treats for a submarine pilot?: WARHEADS. From Wikipedia: A ballistic missile submarine ("Boomer") is a submarine capable of deploying submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) with nuclear warheads.

64. Treats for a fisher?: WHOPPERS. Definition: a thing that is extremely or unusually large.

Across:

1. Victoria's Secret purchase: BRA.

4. US Open stadium named for a US Open winner: ASHE. Arthur. Saw him here just yesterday. His widow is the celebrated photographer Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe. They adopted a daughter in 1986. She was named Camera, after her mother's profession.

8. Calm: SEDATE.

14. Couple's word: OUR.

15. Ostrich relative: RHEA.

16. Swaps: TRADES.

19. Scold harshly: RAIL AT.

20. Blacken on the outside: SEAR.

21. Name in the makeup aisle: ESTEE. Lauder.

23. Mars rover org.: NASA.

24. Young newt: EFT.

28. Headboard pole: BEDPOST. Fitting question for this sweet theme, does your chewing gum lose its flavor on the bedpost overnight?

32. "I'm down with that": OKAY.

33. More likely to cause skidding: ICIER.

34. Santa's reindeer, e.g.: OCTET. Plus Rudolph makes it nine, or a nonad. How Santa's reindeer got their names.

36. Family game room: DEN.

39. Semicircle, e.g.: ARC.

42. Wild way to go: APE.

43. Lawyer's advice: SUE.

44. Prefix with personal: INTER.

45. Blender maker: OSTER.

47. "True Detective" rating: TVMA. Mature audiences only (18 or older).

48. Browned in butter: SAUTEED. That works, but it could be any oil.

54. Pontiac muscle car: GTO.

55. Way out there: AFAR.

56. Bel __: creamy cheese: PAESE. Was not familiar with this cheese.

58. Miranda __ of "Homeland": OTTO.

62. Destroyed, as documents: TORE UP.

66. Clothes line: CREASE. Nice.

67. Snakelike fish: EELS. The plural was tricky.

68. Feel crummy: AIL. Aw.

69. Drove on the trail: HERDED.

70. Some stay at home: DADS.

71. Pooh pal: ROO.

Down:

1. Supervisor: BOSS.

2. Old character: RUNE. Another good clue.

3. Bizet's "Habanera," e.g.: ARIA. From Carmen.

4. Genesis vessel: ARK.

5. Units in a ream: SHEETS.

6. "His," to Bierce: HERS. The Devil's Dictionary is a satirical dictionary written by American Civil War soldier, journalist, and writer Ambrose Bierce consisting of common words followed by humorous and satirical definitions. Other entries include: Love (n.) A temporary insanity curable by marriage; Marriage (n.) A household consisting of a master, a mistress, and two slaves, making in all, two; and Positive (a.) Mistaken at the top of one's voice.

7. Bridge seats: EASTS. Card game.

8. Runner in the raw: STREAKER. Don't look, Ethel!

9. Victorian __: ERA.

10. Like porcelain teacups: DAINTY.

11. Estes' ticket-mate: ADLAI. 1956 DNC, Adlai Stevenson was the nominee, with running mate for VP Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee. Stevenson and Kefauver lost the election to incumbent President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Vice President Richard M. Nixon 57.4% to 42%.

12. Give body to, as hair: TEASE.

13. "¿Cómo __?": ESTÁS. Spanish for "How are you?"

18. __ de chine: light fabric: CREPE.

22. Actors, often: EMOTERS.

25. Let bygones be bygones: FORGIVE.

27. Informs on: RATS OUT.

28. Media critic's concern: BIAS.

29. Linen hue: ECRU.

30. They're spotted in casinos: DICE. Awesome.

31. Taqueria order: TOSTADA.

35. Michael of "SNL": CHE.

36. "It's a __!": DATE.

37. Weapon with two accents: EPEE.

38. Unlikely candidate for prom king: NERD. 

41. Not charted: UNMAPPED.

46. Brownstone porch: STOOP. Brownstone is a building material. Inside A $15M Brooklyn Brownstone.

47. Fine line: THREAD.

49. Antediluvian: AGE OLD.

50. Item on a wrist: WATCH.

51. Earlier than, to poets: AFORE.

52. Not as common: RARER. Hard to pronounce.

53. Put in stitches: SEWED.

57. Miracle Mets' stadium: SHEA.

59. Drop from an eye: TEAR.

60. Jazz __: TRIO.

61. Sonja Henie's birthplace: OSLO.

63. Play for a sap: USE.

65. Message afterthoughts: Abbr.: PSS. Post scripts.