Tuesday, December 3, 2019, Robert E. Lee Morris

Are You a Mensa Genius?  The first word of each theme answer can describe a high IQ.

17-Across. Optimistic viewpoint to "look on": BRIGHT SIDE.

58-Across. Samsung product: SMART PHONE.

11-Down. Hothead's trait: QUICK TEMPER.

24-Down. Wicked wit: SHARP TONGUE.

Across:

1. Desert Storm missile: SCUD.  During Desert Storm, journalist Arthur Kent (b. Dec. 27, 1953), gained fame for reporting on the war and was dubbed The Scud Stud.

5. Jed Clampett portrayer Buddy: EBSEN.  Before becoming Jed Clampett, Buddy Ebsen (né Christian Ludolf Ebsen, Jr.; Apr. 2, 1908 ~ July 6, 2003), had been cast in the role as the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz.  He had to be replaced after he became ill due to a reaction to the aluminum dust that was an integral part of the costume.

10. Newspaper ad meas.: SQ. IN.  As in Square Inches.

14. Greek liqueur: OUZO.  An anise-flavored aperitif.  It's a clear liquid that turns cloudy when ice is added.

15. Like much snack food: SALTY.

16. German wheels: AUDI.

19. "The Way You Love Me" singer Faith: HILL.  Faith Hill (née Audrey Faith Perry; b. Sept. 21, 1967) is married to fellow musician, Tim McGraw (né Samuel Timothy McGraw; b. May 1, 1967).

20. Comfort: EASE.

21. Medieval clubs: MACES.  Bludgeoning weapons.

22. Vampire played by Cruise: LESTAT.  Tom Cruise (né Thomas Cruise Mapother, IV; b. July 3, 1962) played the Vampire LESTAT de Lioncourt in the 1994 movie Interview with the Vampire, which was based on the novel of the same name by New Orleanian, Anne Rice.

26. Offhand comment: REMARK.

29. Breathed out: EXHALED.

31. Connects (to): RELATES.

34. Eastern neighbor of Tenn.: N. CAR.  North Carolina is Tennessee's eastern neighbor.

35. "FBI" actress De La Garza: ALANA.  Alana De la Garza (b. June 18, 1974) recently joined the cast of the FBI.  She previously was in the cast of several of the Law & Order shows.

37. "Strange Magic" rock band: ELO.  The Electric Light Orchestra was a band that originally formed in 1970!

38. California's Big __: SUR.

39. Know-it-all: WISE GUY.

41. UFC sport: MMA.  As in Mixed Martial Arts.  I let the perps fill in this answer.

42. Psychic's "gift": ESP.  As in ExtraSensory Perception.

43. "Gesundheit!" evoker: ACHOO.

44. For each unit: A POP.

45. Emancipate: SET FREE.

47. Middle of __: remote area: NO WHERE.

50. Restaurant chef's workload: ORDERS.

52. Came close to: NEARED.

53. Singer Joplin: JANIS.  Janis Joplin (née Janis Lyn Joplin; b. Jan. 19, 1943 ~ Oct. 4, 1970) was born in Port Arthur, Texas.  Tragically, she died of a heroin overdose at age 27.

55. Taste defeat: LOSE.

57. Strong desire: URGE.

64. Any thing, say: NOUN.  Not keen on this type of cluing.

65. Bamboo muncher: PANDA.  China owns and leases all the Giant Pandas.  Bei Bei, the Panda that was at the National Zoo, was sent back to China last month.  They are such cute little critters.

66. Black stone: ONYX.

67. Pigged out (on), briefly: OD-ED.  As in Over-Dosed.

68. Fur tycoon: ASTOR.  John Jacob Astor (né Johann Jakob Astor; July 17, 1763 ~ Mar. 29, 1848) was born in Germany, but immigrated to the United States shortly after the American Revolution  He was an astute businessman and quickly entered into the fur trade.  He became the first multi-millionaire in the United States.

69. Designer Chanel: COCO.  Coco Chanel (née Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel; Aug. 19, 1883 ~ Jan. 10, 1971), led an interesting life.

Down:

1. Cry noisily: SOB.  //  And: 49-Down. Blubber: WEEP.

2. Many a stray 4-Down: CUR.  //  And 4-Down:  Hound: DOG.

3. Special forces weapon: UZI.  The Uzi was designed by Uziel Gal (né Gotthard Glas; Dec. 15, 1923 ~ Sept. 7, 2002), a German-born Israeli gun developer.  He was horrified that this weapon was name after him.

5. Sprawling property: ESTATE.

6. Barbershop quartet member: BASS.

7. More underhanded: SLIER.

8. Flight board abbr.: ETD.  As in Estimated Time of Departure.

9. "Bill __ Saves the World": science talk show: NYE.  As in William Sanford Nye (b. Nov. 27, 1955).  Is he a Scientist or a Comedian?

10. Arid African expanse: SAHARA.

12. Wait in traffic: IDLE.

13. Rock's Lofgren: NILS.  Nils Hilmer Lofgren (b. June 21, 1951) is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band.

18. Get better: HEAL.

21. Southeast Asia's __ Peninsula: MALAY.

22. Camera attachments: LENSES.  This one is just a bit too large for the average tourist.

23. Reason for absence: EXCUSE.

25. Driveway surface: TAR.

27. Jeremy Irons film based on a Christopher Paolini fantasy novel: ERAGON.  Eragon was apparently a fantasy-action film.  Rotten Tomatoes listed it as the 10th worst film of 2006.

28. Bill of fare: MENU.

30. One of Santa's reindeer: DASHER.  Can you spot Dasher?

32. "Get Shorty" novelist __ Leonard: ELMORE.  Elmore John Leonard, Jr. (Oct. 11, 1925 ~ Aug. 20, 2013) was born in New Orleans.  He wrote many novels that were adapted into movies.  Get Shorty was a very funny movie, but I had trouble with the book.

33. Lathered (up): SOAPED.

Not a happy camper

36. Late July zodiac sign: LEO.  Leo is the Zodiac sign from July 23 to August 22.

39. City districts: WARDS.  There are 17 wards in New Orleans.

40. Slushy treat: ICEE.  The Polar bear is its logo.

44. "I understand now!": AHA!

46. Ally: FRIEND.

48. GM security system: ON-STAR.

51. Point of view: SLANT.

53. Roman queen of the gods: JUNO.  Juno was the chief goddess and was the female counterpart to Jupiter.

54. Retired MLB slugger: A-ROD.  As in Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (b. July 27, 1975).  He had a long career in professional baseball.  He played 7 seasons with the Seattle Mariners, three with the Texas Rangers and 12 with the New York Yankees.

56. Word on a dollar: ORDO.  The Latin phrase Novus Ordo Seclorum is found under the pyramid on the One Dollar bill.  It means A New Order of the Ages.

58. Place for TLC: SPA.

59. Humanities degs.: MAs.  As in Masters of Arts.

60. Ad __ committee: HOC.

61. Lennon's love: ONO.  Yoko Ono (b. Feb. 18, 1933) makes frequent guest appearances in the crossword puzzles.

62. Grand Central Sta. site: NYC.

63. Skeleton prefix: EXO-.  Critters with Exoskeletons:

Here's the Grid:

QOD:  See it all.  See it fairly.  Be truthful, be sensible and be careful with language.  When nothing depends upon man, everything depends on him.  ~  Henry A. Grunwald (né Heinz Anatole Grünwald; Dec. 3, 1922 ~ Feb. 26, 2005); Austrian-born American journalist and editor

Monday, December 2, 2019 Adam Vincent

Theme: FOLLOWING ORDERS (39. Doing as told, in the military ... or what the starts of the answers to starred clues can literally have?) - The start of each theme entry can follow "order".

18. *Lucrative business: MONEYMAKER. Money order.

23. *Medieval entertainer: COURT JESTER. Court order.

54. *Hostel audience?: BACK PACKERS. Back order.

61. *Comedian's suppliers: GAG WRITERS. Gag order.

Boomer here.  C.C. said this is the LAT debut for Adam. Congratulations!

Well, we had to say goodbye and send Paul Bunyan's Axe back to Madison, Wisconsin.  P.J. Fleck's lingo changed from "Row the Boat" to "Pull the Sled".  If you had occasion to watch the game Saturday, you got to see the weather that Minnesota is expecting for the next three months.  But the other nine months are worth it.  Only 10 weeks until the groundhog peeks out for his shadow. 

Across:

1. Peruvian home: CASA.  Mi casa es su casa?

5. German philosopher who wrote "The Phenomenology of Spirit": HEGEL.

10. Microsoft Surface competitor: IPAD.  I have been able to live without one of these.

14. Chopped down: AXED.  What Wisconsin did to Gophers on Saturday.

15. Amazon assistant: ALEXA.  I have seen commercials but I don't need Alexa's help.

16. Italia's capital: ROMA.

17. Imperfection: FLAW.

20. Mai __: cocktail: TAI.  I have heard of these but I never had one.  Back in the day my call was a VO Manhattan on the rocks with cherry juice.  Now my call is Diet Pepsi.

22. Hard to erase, as markers: PERMANENT.  I thought it was a lady's hair style.

26. Ave. and tpk.: RDS.

27. Hard to believe: UNREAL.

28. Word with York or Jersey: NEW. " I read the NEWS today, Oh boy" (Beatles - "A Day in the Life") 

30. In shape: FIT.  Anybody own a FitBit?  C.C. and I have gone through about 5 cheap pedometers with disappointing results.

31. Forgetful moment: LAPSE.  I can't remember what LAPSE means.

35. First part of a play: ACT I.  I thought the first part of a play is to buy a ticket.

43. Mario Kart console, initially: SNES.  Gesundheit

44. "__, but no cigar": CLOSE.  Reminds me of when the County Fair used to come to town.  We could put a dime on a square and the carny would spin the wheel.  If our number hit we would win a pack of cigarettes!! We were about 13 years old.  If the number missed we were "close but no cigs" and we lost our dime.  

45. Pencil eraser, e.g.: NUB.

46. Christen, as a knight: DUB.  This is a golf term that I am familiar with.

49. Hurry up: HASTEN.  Dashing through the snow, with a football in my arms.

51. ISP option: DSL.

58. How chops or ribs are served: ON THE BONE.  Not in our home.  I buy boneless chops and ribs.

60. That girl: HER.

63. Modern in-flight amenity: WIFI.  Also in most malls.  We lost computer access due to a digging accident in the neighborhood last summer.  Had to go to a mall to keep in touch with all of you.

66. Earl __ tea: GREY.  I wonder who Earl Grey was??  Should I know him, is he a folk singer?

67. Etsy's biz, e.g.: ETAIL.  I heard that Costco's e-business server went down on Black Friday and it cost them $11,000,000 worth of business. Could be true. The news reported that there were "thousands" waiting for our Mall of America to open at 5:00 AM Friday.

68. Supply-and-demand sci.: ECON.

69. Cravings: YENS.  I don't have a YEN for Japanese money.

70. With a long face: SADLY.

71. Stink: REEK.

Down:

1. Campus eatery, for short: CAF.  At the University of Gophers, we called it Coffman Memorial Union.  They had vending machines on the basement floor.

2. Guns N' Roses frontman Rose: AXL.

3. Slow-moving coastal critter: SEA TURTLE.

4. Bothersome browser apps: ADWARE.  Bothersome, YES, Ridiculous?  A better term.

5. __ and eggs: HAM. Are the eggs green? I once owned a Dr. Suess book titled "If I Ran the Zoo."  It was autographed by the good doctor.  I met him at the San Diego zoo when I was too young to remember.  

6. Slip out to tie the knot: ELOPE.

7. Heredity units: GENES.  Mr. Hackman and Mr. Wilder.

8. Apply, as pressure: EXERT.

9. Joes who aren't pros: LAYMEN.

10. Persia, now: IRAN.  "If IRAN the Zoo said young Gerald McGrew, I'd make a few changes and here's what I'd do."

11. Rod for stirring a fire: POKER. Ante up!

12. Change for the better: AMEND.

13. Pub game: DARTS. This game has infiltrated the bar area of most of the bowling centers I frequent. 

19. Former filly: MARE.

21. Prefix for Venice's country: ITALO.  I'll have to check with my sister Connie.  She's been to Italy more than half a dozen times.

23. Perp's restraints: CUFFS.  I never got to wear them, but I remember when men's pants had them.

24. Bagel flavoring: ONION.  Also Chili, stuffing, and hamburgers.

25. "The Hunger Games" star, to fans: J-LAW. Jennifer Lawrence.

29. Roll of bills: WAD.  I thought a mouth of gum was in a wad.  I pay my bills and keep the green bills in my wallet.  I am pretty sure a wad would not fit.  Never had a wad to try.

32. Insta upload: PIC. Insta(gram).

33. NBC late-night weekend staple, familiarly: SNL.  I still miss Tina Fey.  But I am no longer up late on Saturdays so I do not know what I am missing.

34. Freudian focus: EGO.

36. Heart of the rink: CENTER ICE.  Wanna buy an "R"

37. More faithful: TRUER.

38. 13-digit pub. codes: ISBNS.

40. '60s hallucinogen: LSD.  LBJ took the IRT cross the USA, What did he see?  The youth of America on LSD,  Gimme a head with "HAIR".

41. Org. providing workplace safety posters: OSHA.

42. Attain: REACH.

47. Lyft competitor: UBER.  I suppose taxi companies are not too happy.  I heard that Uber stock is not doing too well. 

48. Bottle-fed tykes: BABIES.

50. Backyard chef's stick: SKEWER.  I used two of them in our Thanksgiving Turkey.

51. Pooch, to a tyke: DOGGY.  " How much is that Doggy in the window?"  Patti Page - maybe 65 years ago ??

52. Drum type: SNARE.  BONGO would have fit.

53. Three-star mil. officer: LT GEN.

55. Panna __: Italian dessert: COTTA.  Better clue maybe.  The Terra Cotta soldiers are sculptures depicting the armies of the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang.  They are located in a museum in Lintong, Xi'an China.

56. Work with dough: KNEAD.  What the dough said to the baker -"As long as he kneads me".

57. Danger: PERIL.

59. "I-" rds., e.g.: HWYS.  I am someone who was a kid during Eisenhower's term.  I remember two lane highways across the country. General IKE promoted the "Interstate Highway System".  Probably the best asset to America in the last 70 years,  

62. Crafty: SLY. Stallone -- Who can forget "Rocky".

64. Hardly a friend: FOE.

65. Confident crossword solver's choice: INK.  Don't forget the "Wite Out",

Boomer 

Sunday December 1, 2019 Gary Larson

Theme:  "Name Tags" - Each familiar phrase is re-interpreted as if the word is a person's name.

21. Inspiring Gates?: ELECTRIC BILL. Bill Gates is truly inspiring.

24. Upright Fosse?: PLUMB BOB. Bob Fosse, the choreographer with nine Tony wins.

 

49. Refined Bailey?: CULTURED PEARL. Pearl Bailey.

51. Careless Montana?: SLOPPY JOE. Joe Montana.

 

64. Vividly expressive Carney?: GRAPHIC ART. Art Carney.

67. Outgoing Macdonald?: SOCIAL NORM. Norm Macdonald of "Saturday Night Live".

 86. Slothful Sontag?: LAZY SUSAN. Susan Sontag.

89. Seafaring Davis?: NAUTICAL MILES. Miles Davis.

113. Forthcoming Tyson?: OPEN MIKE. Mike Tyson.

115. Forceful Kelly?: DOMINANT GENE. Gene Kelly.

We got a good mix of people. 2 ladies. 8 men. From various walks of life.

Theme heavy. Total 10 entries in a 140-word grid.

   

Across:

1. Milky white kind of glass: OPAL.

5. "Dumb and Dumber" co-star: CARREY. Jim Carrey seems to be a recluse now.

11. Confident: ASSURED.

18. Stellar phenomenon: NOVA.

19. Aspirations: DREAMS.

20. Self-officiated game with a disc: ULTIMATE. Why don't they call it "Ultimate frisbee" any more?

25. More tender: SORER.

26. Driver's lic. info: DOB.

27. Red dye: EOSIN.

29. Use for a fee: RENT.

30. Family nickname: SIS.

32. Something read to the rowdy?: RIOT ACT. Nice clue/answer.

35. English breakfast __: TEA.

37. Outrage: IRE.

40. Very funny sort: CARD.

42. Hostess output: CUPCAKES.

44. It has an eye on TV: CBS.

47. 1980s Panamanian dictator: NORIEGA. Manuel Noriega. The Chilean dictator is Augusto Pinochet.

53. Type, in Calais: SORTE. Similar to our English.

54. Westminster landmark: ABBEY.

55. Jumbles: OLIOS.

56. House shower: C-SPAN.

58. Causes of frequent break-ins?: SPONSORS. Commercial breaks.

60. IBM competitor: NEC.

61. 1942 Philippine battle site: BATAAN. We had this before also.

63. Cold sheet: FLOE.

73. Actor Neeson: LIAM.

74. Fortune-telling aids: TAROTS.

75. One of the fire signs: LEO.

76. Period of the first dinosaurs: TRIASSIC. Is this word related to "triceratops"?

80. State with a panhandle: TEXAS.

81. Plane angle symbol: THETA.

83. Very long time: AEONS.

84. Some corporate jets: LEARS.

92. Where to find an idiomatic pig: IN A POKE. This idiom and "don't look a gift horse in the mouth" are just odd.

93. Family docs: GPS.

94. Widespread: NON-LOCAL.

95. One doing stars, say: APER.

96. Outlaw Kelly: NED.

97. "Ben-Hur" studio: MGM.

98. Starts to negotiate, as a price: ASKS FOR.

100. Clearasil target: ZIT.

102. Formally transfer: CEDE.

105. Opposite of piano: FORTE.

107. Young socialite: DEB.

109. Dependable: SOLID. All our blogging team. So lucky.

119. Fan of Jerry Garcia's band: DEADHEAD.

120. Flea market deal: RESALE. We had lots of fun at the flea market. Did it for many years.

121. Part of a pot: ANTE.

122. __ overload: SENSORY.

123. Absorbs the financial hit: EATS IT.

124. "Enough!": STOP.

Down:

1. Till stack: ONES.

2. Game played in an anagram of itself: POLO. Water polo. Pool.

3. Swear: AVER.

4. What loafers lack: LACES.

5. Burnable medium, briefly: CDR.

6. Dry as a bone: ARID.

7. "Made to be broken" thing: RECORD.

8. Browning's Ben Ezra, e.g.: RABBI. See here. New to me.

9. Former U.K. recording giant: EMI.

10. Fashion initials: YSL.

11. "__ want for Christmas ... ": ALL I.

12. Hindered, as growth: STUNTED.

13. __City: computer game: SIM.

14. Eclipse shadow: UMBRA.

15. "Streamers" playwright: RABE. Also new to me.

16. School since 1440: ETON.

17. Balance on a card, say: DEBT.

20. Parvenus: UPSTARTS.

22. Bench press muscles: TRICEPS.

23. Seized, as an opportunity: LEAPT ON.

28. Go down, so to speak: OCCUR.

31. Like some turkey stuffing: SAGY. Our 12-pound turkey this year. Tons of sage in the stuffing.

33. Eye care product prefix: OCU.

34. Certain Sooner: TULSAN.

36. ESPN Deportes language: ESPANOL. ESPN "Sports".

37. Joyous way to break out: IN SONG.

38. Surfing wave: ROLLER.

39. Symphony originally dedicated to Napoleon: EROICA.

41. Friend of TV's Sheldon: RAJ.

43. Stay in shape: KEEP FIT.

44. Popular spring break locale, informally: CABO. Cabo San Lucas.

45. Uncle Remus title: BR'ER.

46. Stone and Stallone: SLYS.

48. Wall St. news: IPO.

49. French Oscar: CESAR. Wiki says "The name of the award comes from the sculptor César Baldaccini (1921–1998) who created it."

50. "Barnaby Jones" star: EBSEN.

52. Numerical prefix: OCTA. Prefix for "eight".

57. Frisk, with "down": PAT.

59. Rio greetings: OLAS.

61. Partial view?: BIAS.  Not "Not total" partial.

62. Lombardy-based football club: AC MILAN. Sponsored by the Emirates Airline. There are things that money can buy.

65. Nursery item: PLANT.

66. Sound of disapproval: HISSING.

67. Early rock horn: SAX.

68. Face-to-face exams: ORALS.

69. Toledo thing: COSA.

70. "Little House" family name: OLESON. Nellie Oleson.

71. Second shot: RETAKE.

72. Sounded ghostly: MOANED.

74. Green cars: TESLAS.

76. Sharp flavor: TANG.

77. Harvest: REAP.

78. Markers: IOUS.

79. Like many fine wines: CELLARED. Not a word I use.

80. Deked, say: TRICKED.

81. Bolshevik's foe: TSARIST.

82. March opening: HUP.

85. "He's __ notable coward ... ": Shak.: A MOST.

87. Speed: ZIP.

88. Santa __ Valley: California wine region: YNEZ.

90. More cozy: COMFIER.

91. Polar helper: ELF. I absolutely love this time of the year. Everywhere is so festive.

95. Sites for fights: ARENAS.

97. Patches up: MENDS.

99. Horace, for one: ODIST.

101. "Animal House" party attire: TOGAS.

102. Some UPS deliveries: CODS. Cash on Delivery.

103. Duel tool: EPEE.

104. University VIP: DEAN.

106. "Just __ is not __": AT&T slogan: OKAY.

108. Island near Java: BALI.

110. Mardi Gras follower: LENT.

111. Liking: INTO.

112. Insightful: DEEP.

114. Old reciprocal electrical unit: MHO. Now called a siemens.

116. Mt. Hood's home: ORE.

117. __ culpa: MEA.

118. Bottom line: NET.

C.C.