Sunday Janaury 26, 2020 Blake Slonecker

Theme:  "Em Dash" - EM is removed from each familiar phrase.

23. Tales of woe?: AIL ACCOUNTS. Email accounts.

25. Piggy bank?: CENT MIXER. Cement mixer.

39. Leave politics to wander?: ROVE FROM OFFICE. Remove from office.

48. App for getting a hip escort?: DIAL-UP MOD. Dial-up modem. Quite a few Ups in this grid: 54. Plug: STOP UP. 79. Ties: EVENS UP. 88. Really dug: ATE UP.

67. Precipitation not yet visible?: RAINS TO BE SEEN. Remains to be seen.

85. Mafia hopefuls' repressed personas?: INNER DONS. Inner demons.

92. Musty sheets?: OFFENSIVE LINEN. Offensive linemen.

108. Libertine on screen?: MOVIE RAKE. Movie remake. "libertine" always reminds me of Alec from "Tess of the d'Urbervilles". That's where I first learned the word.

111. Musical works for deep voices?: BASSY SUITES. Embassy suites.

I think this is Blake's first Sunday. And a nicely filled 140-worder. Congratulations!

I enjoyed this theme. The EM's are dropped in various spots. Fun phrases.

  

Across:

1. Sent regrets, say, briefly: RSVP'D.  Sometimes it's RSVP'ed.

6. Tank to go under: SCUBA.

11. Sweater predator: MOTH.

15. Morsel in a linguine sauce: CLAM. Easy to make.

19. Get around: ELUDE.

20. Upstanding: MORAL. Heard from Dennis the other day. He's doing fantastic.

21. Twistable treat: OREO.

22. "The Godfather" enforcer __ Brasi: LUCA. Sleeps with the fishes.

27. High hybrid stat.: MPG.

28. Organization for the 50+ crowd: AARP.

29. Train units: CARS.

31. Musical corps members: FIFERS.

32. Feminist poet Lorde: AUDRE. Read more here.  We also have 99. Writer Sontag: SUSAN.

34. Delicate fabric: LACE.

35. Explode: GO OFF.

37. Inflated accommodation: AIRBED.

44. Historian's Muse: CLIO.

45. The Emerald Isle: EIRE.

46. Attack: SET AT.

47. Yemeni port: ADEN.

51. __ Diego: SAN.

52. What some hounds follow: SCENT.

53. Fails to understand: CAN'T SEE.

58. Car dealer's offering: LEASE.

59. Kama __: SUTRA.

61. Illinois-to-Washington family: OBAMAS.

63. Early fur trader: ASTOR.

64. Tired routine: RUT.

70. Busy hosp. areas: ERS. They're building a new hospital in Wuhan in 10 days. During 2003 SARS pandemic, a basic emergency hospital was completed within a week.

71. Absinthe flavoring: ANISE. Star anise is a key ingredient in Five Spice powder.

73. Sarges' superiors: LOOIES.

74. English glam rockers since the '70s: SLADE.

76. Someone to pay?: PIPER. Oh, pay the piper.

77. Big bomb trials: N TESTS.

83. Cher and Che: ICONS.

84. Big __: SUR.

87. Artful: DEFT.

90. Sarah McLachlan hit: ADIA. Gimme for regulars.

91. Basic diamond trio: OUTS.

95. Metaphorical incentive: CARROT.

97. Part of TNT: NITRO.

98. Crimson rivals: ELIS.

100. Winter hanger: ICICLE. Look at the icy road in our mail box area.

103. Burt's Bees product: BALM.

104. Tap lineup: ALES.

105. Neruda wrote one to "things": ODE.

114. Scheme: PLAN.

115. Novelist Murdoch: IRIS.

116. Cyber Monday sector: E TAIL.

117. Tiptoe, say: CREEP. I walk like a penguin when I'm out.

118. Performed on karaoke night: SANG.

119. 'Tis the season: XMAS.

120. Currently: TODAY.

121. Quicker than is prudent: HASTY.

Down:

1. Copier supply unit: REAM.

2. Freudian __: SLIP.

3. One with unrefined tastes: VULGARIAN.

4. Peck in the park, briefly: PDA.

5. An era may be confined to one: DECADE.

6. Camping treat: S'MORE. Never had this.

7. Brilliant stroke: COUP.

8. One may be measured in cups: URN.

9. It's under Wayne Manor: BAT CAVE.

10. French border region: ALSACE.

11. Oft-beaded footwear: MOCS.

12. W. state whose largest city is named for a New England city: ORE. Named after Portland, Maine.

13. Perfect score, often: TEN.

14. Hurry, with "it": HOTFOOT.

15. Challenges for climbers: CLIFF FACES. Three F in a row.

16. Swanky: LUXE.

17. Taiwanese tech giant: ACER. Our monitor.

18. Rover's destination: MARS.

24. ID __: CARD.

26. Tick off: MIFF.

30. Ones crying foul?: REFS.

33. Curved fasteners: U BOLTS.

34. Leapers in a carol: LORDS.

35. Avoided unhappy consequences: GOT A PASS.

36. Muscat's land: OMAN.

37. "Back in Black" band: AC/DC.

38. Pelvic bones: ILIA.

39. Cristo Redentor city: RIO.

40. Job application component: RESUME.

41. Brainstorm: IDEATE.

42. Bleeping official: CENSOR.

43. Joins, as a club: ENTERS.

45. TV chef Lagasse: EMERIL."Kick it up a notch!"

49. Ones taking a lot of interest in their work?: USURERS. Real interest.

50. Org. that sued SeaWorld on behalf of orcas: PETA.

52. Libel, in speech: SLANDER.

55. Comedian Fields: TOTIE.

56. Orchestral winds: OBOES.

57. Milwaukee theater named for a brewer, with "the": PABST.

60. Spanish New Year: ANO NUEVO. Ours is Spring Festival. Tet for the Vietnamese. Seollal for Koreans. All in the same day.

62. One-named Tejano singer: SELENA.

64. Quick, in Quito: RAPIDO. And 90. Lively movement: ANIMATO.

65. Peace Prize-winning relief org.: UNICEF.

66. Hoops jump ball: TIP OFF.

68. "Couldn't agree more": SO TRUE.

69. Roof edge: EAVE.

72. It follows a guilty verdict: SENTENCING.

75. "Bewitched" witch: ENDORA.

78. A and B, on LPs: SIDES.

80. Harmony ruiners: SOUR NOTES. Great fill.

81. "Do __ others ... ": UNTO.

82. Sibilant attention-getter: PSST.

84. Soup step: STIR.

86. "Henry & June" diarist: NIN (Anais)

88. French comics series set in Gaul in 50 BC: ASTERIX. Learning moment for me.

89. Entreaty: PLEA.

93. River where down means north: NILE.

94. "Doubt it": I'LL BET.

95. Sticks by the pool table: CUES.

96. Per se: AS SUCH.

99. In a wily way: SLYLY.

100. Little handfuls: IMPS.

101. Royal Crown, for one: COLA.

102. "Terrible" leader: IVAN.

103. Téa's "Madam Secretary" role: BESS.

104. Home to most of the Silk Road: ASIA.

106. Ingredient in OFF!: DEET.

107. Best Upset, e.g.: ESPY.

109. Shot spot: ARM.

110. Soul supplier: KIA.

112. Blue: SAD.

113. Glass of NPR: IRA.

As Jayce mentioned, yesterday was Chinese Spring Festival. People in Guangzhou like to buy special flowers and golden orange trees for Spring Festival. Supposed to bring good luck. 

The big flower markets were closed earlier this year due to the coronavirus. People wear face masks wherever they go. And the face masks are in short supply.  

My friend Carmen sent me this picture. Very pretty, right? All her family gatherings and outings have been canceled.

蝴蝶兰 (Empress Orchids) & Golden Oranges

Saturday, January 25, 2020, Evan Kalish

Saturday Themeless by Evan Kalish

Evan Kalish is our much-travelled collector of post office pictures. Evan chronicles his collection at his fun web site and is closing in on 10,000 post office sites he has documented. 2019 saw him visit 708 new, active facilities.

In this picture, he is shown at the post office in San Antonio, Puerto Rico eleven days after visiting all the post offices on the island. He circles every post office on his AAA map and then highlights them once he has visited them. In this picture his right index finger is pointing at the office in San Antonio, P.R.

Sometime during his quests he finds the time to, "put his stamp" on "first-class" puzzles like this and definitely doesn't just "mail 'em in"! Okay, okay I'm through.

When I contacted Evan, he was kind enough to send me a wonderful narrative about how this puzzle came to be. I have posted his response at the bottom of this write-up and I highly recommend that you take time to read it.

Now for our special delivery from Evan (Okay NOW I'm through):

Across:

1. Moisture-catching linings: SWEAT BANDS - My lawn mowing fashion statement 

11. Barbecue crust: CHAR - National Cancer Institute says agents in charred meat can cause changes in DNA that may increase the risk of cancer and advises those parts be cut off and discarded. Not good for me to hear!

15. Period that included the Civil War: LINCOLN ERA.

16. Place with rolling pins, perhaps: LANE - Cute clue for our bowlers, Evan!

17. Making a plea: ENTREATING.

18. Present opener?: OMNI - It's an election year so guess what will be OMNIPRESENT

19. Have the chutzpah: DARE 21. Word with interest and error: HUMAN- This 8-second clip is a HUMAN interest story about a HUMAN error for a "hard to sight-read" word

20. Farm structure: SILO - Can hold corn or ICBM's

22. Farm structure: STY - and either can be next to one of these

23. Date night convenience: ATM - Insert $4.25 and you can get your date a Sprinkles Cupcake at this ATM

24. Pauses: LET UPS - Not a good idea when your team is on a roll

      Hélène Dutrieu

25. "Femina Cup" (1910s contest) competitor: AVIATRIX - an award of 2000 francs established in 1910 by Pierre Lafitte the publisher of French women's magazine Femina to honor women pilots who, by December 31, had kept an airplane in the air longest without landing. Here is the first winner - Hélène Dutrieu who was in the air for 2 hrs and 35 min. on 12/31/1910 

28. Turn: ROT.


29. Informal "Right?": AIN'T IT TRUE - or more commonly around here: AIN'T IT THE TRUTH?

32. Ball, e.g.: GALA.

33. Links legend: SNEAD - Arnie fought to get in here but... 

34. It's above lead on tables: TIN - There's Lead (Pb - PlumBum) right below TIN (Sn - StaNnum) in the Carbon family 

35. Ring of Saturn?: ORBIT - Cute again! Saturn's ORBIT path 

36. Hash ingredient: SPUD.

37. Makes even more gross?: GETS A RAISE - Cute again! My gross teacher salary was $488.33/month in 1968. In 2012 it was $4,883/month - I GOT quite A RAISE!

39. Plural possessive: OUR.

40. Leo is one: FIRE SIGN - If you believe in such, uh, science

41. Jalopies: CRATES.

43. __ wolf: CRY - Aesop had a fable about the consequences of doing this once too often

44. Nasty current: RIP - Swim sideways to the current to escape

47. R&B family name: ISLEY - Otis Day and The Knights covered The ISLEY Brother's song Shout in Animal House

48. Caps on a protective vest: SWAT - Those CAPS are letters not headgear. Fun!

50. Fundació Joan __: Barcelona museum: MIRO - The Joan Miró Museum in Barcelona that contains most of his art

51. Family member: AUNT.

52. Blocks off: BARRICADES - The "construction" of the BARRICADE on stage in Le Miserables often draws applause on its own.

54. Level: TIER.

55. Gerald Ford and Glenn Ford, e.g.: FREE MASONS - Mason symbolism on the $1 bill

56. Blues first name: ETTA - Her ETTA Is Betta Than Evah album led off last Friday's puzzle

57. Intermediary's compensation: FINDER'S FEE.


Down:

1. They often have runners: SLEDS - Mine was a Flexible Flyer

2. Succeed in: WIN AT and 3. Contest form: ENTRY - To WIN AT Power Ball after you make an ENTRY has a chance of 1 in 292,000,000

4. Estate unit: ACRE - Highclere Castle (used in Downton Abbey) was originally set on 5,000 ACRES in Hampshire, England

5. __ the line: TOE.

6. "Dang!": BLAST IT.

7. Part of the Enterprise's power source: ANTIMATTER - It was also in Dan Brown's book

8. Diamond of song: NEIL.

9. Bond classic: DR NO - My first image that DR NO evokes for me is of Ursula, especially on this cold, winter's day

Ursula Andress in Dr No

10. Decline: SAG - None spotted in the picture above

11. Leverage: CLOUT.

12. Early code name?: HAMMURABI - One of his 282 rules from his code of ~1754 B.C.

13. Alphabetically second on a list of U.S. state capitals: ANNAPOLIS - Oh yeah, it's the capital of Maryland AND the home of The Naval Academy 

14. Put back: REINSTATE - It may be a while before AJ Hinch is REINSTATED into baseball because the Astros got 44. No longer forced to deal with: RID OF him. Hinch didn't 24. Whopper you can't eat: LIE - He admitted he knew of the cheating, didn't approve of it but did not stop it

21. Curse: HEX.

23. All in: AVID - I would say Evan is "All In" on his post office avocation. 

25. Ever so slightly: A TAD.

26. Not remotely fresh: TRITE.

27. Flees in a panic: RUNS SCARED - I would if he were 30. Chasing, with "of": IN PURSUIT  of me

29. Like eight Supreme Court justices: ASSOCIATE - Chief Justice Roberts has a big responsibility these days

31. Artificial intelligence framework: NEURAL NET - Explained from MIT

32. __ Torino: 1970s Ford: GRAN - The producers of GRAN Torino (a 53. Ford product: CAR) found the car they wanted on Ebay. Clint Eastwood bought the car after the movie was done for his collection 

35. Bacchanalia: ORGY - Curious?

37. Beneficiaries of a 1944 bill: GI'S - A well-deserved benefit for The Greatest Generation and military men and women that followed 

38. PAC's election season purchase: AIR TIME - INFLUENCE had too many letters

40. "30 Rock" creator: FEY - Can you find the "creator" in the More Info area below?

42. One-third of dodeca-: TETRA - One-third of twelve is four

45. Sherlock's foe Adler: IRENE - Based on a real person?

46. Term in Old West and hip-hop culture: POSSE.

48. Indian garb: SARI.

49. Chirpy bird: WREN - They are a drab addition to our winter landscape but their songs can lift my spirits

50. Keyword in Newton's second law: MASS - Bigger masses are harder to speed up

52. Texting partner, like, srsly!: BFF - Part of the modern lexicon by now

Here is what Evan wrote to me about the genesis of this puzzle:

The origin of this puzzle dates back six years, to when I was effectively filling grids manually and with a distinctive lack of success. Here is an early draft of the grid. I love reading about scientific developments and try to keep my word list updated accordingly. This grid was originally developed around the HIGGS BOSON, front and center (well, top and left). You can see the origins of the current puzzle in the SE corner, with fill that included FISA Courts—which were in the news at the time—and some other short entries that I find unsatisfying today...

Back then I left several half-filled versions in a folder (including a version with the NE and SE corners of the grid as they stand today). I remember being excited to include HAMMURABI, ANNAPOLIS, and FINDER’S FEE because they hadn’t appeared in a modern NYT crossword before… (and indeed they still haven’t!) Fast forward to July 2018 and this puzzle came to life. I had to scrap HIGGS BOSON, but was able to get my sci-tech fill with ANTIMATTER and a NEURAL NET from AI research. Other than that, I tried to make all the longer answers radiating from the center interesting while keeping everything smooth.

Favorite submitted clues: “Spot with rolling pins?” = LANE, “Present opener?” = OMNI, “Like fans you can’t turn off?” = AVID, and “Early code name?” = Hammurabi. Glad to see my clue for ORBIT made the cut!

Friday, January 24, 2020 Paul Coulter

"TURN DOWN SERVICE"


Let's go with the reveal first.

62. Hotel amenity, and a hint to three puzzle answers: TURN DOWN SERVICE.   At the end of three across answers, you have to read the intersecting down answer.   Very neat !

The theme entries:

16. (across) Blamed for personal advantage: THROWN UNDER THE B, with
18. (down) Clear: BUS.
THROWN UNDER THE BUS - Mark's clue nails it succinctly.    In business, politics, sports, personal relationships...  

31. (across) Punch with force, maybe: GIVE A FAT L, with
34. (down) Backtalk: LIP.
GIVE A FAT LIP - Nothing figurative here. 

44. (across) Chanoyu ceremony essential: JAPANESE T, with
46. (down) High __: TEA.
JAPANESE TEA. - This was hard for me because I didn't know what a Chanoyu ceremony was, but then looked at the other two theme answers and aha !   Changed my 46D from High def to TEA, and that also cleared up the stall where MOOLA belonged.

"The simple art of Chanoyu is really a synthesis of many Japanese arts with the focus of preparing and serving a bowl of tea with a pure heart." - Chanoyu   

You would think the genesis of this puzzle was the reveal TURN DOWN SERVICE, wouldn't you ?



Across:

1. Draft category: ONE A.   Actually, it's 1-A.

5. Crisply played, in mus.: STAC.   Music / Staccato.

9. Qatar's capital: DOHA.   Whatever happened to Doha Doc ?

13. Inflammation treatment: CORTISONE.   And 39. Ibuprofen brand: ADVIL.  Corticosteroids vs. NSAIDs

While we're on the subject, take the pain quiz.

15. Apple product: IPOD.

19. More mean: NASTIER.

20. Sci-fi helmsman: SULU.

21. Burdened: LADEN.

24. Portable chair: SEDAN.     Champagne glass: Coupe.

26. "Uno __": cantina request: MAS.    "One more" in Spanish.

27. Fundraising targets: ALUMNI.

29. Boar's mate: SOW.

35. Greatly beloved ones: GEMs.

38. He reunited with his fictional ex on Valentine's Day in 2011: KEN.   I assume with Barbie ?

41. Backboard attachment: RIM.

42. Place Sundance liked to see: ETTA.   Loved this clue / answer.  Etta Place

Life with the Sundance Kid

47. Kazakhstan, once: Abbr.: SSR.   Soviet Socialist Republic.

49. Waste time: DAWDLE.

50. __ store: APP.

53. Many an Indian: HINDU.

57. Green: MOOLA.   Both slang for money.

58. Game with two secret passages: CLUE.   No clue on this answer based on the clue alone.   Never played it; don't know much about it.    Didn't know there were secret passages.   But, with C from ACT, -. U from PULSE, and E from EYES, what else could it be ?   C-UE.

60. Advice: COUNSEL.   Advice, advise, counsel and council.    Simple nouns and verbs that can easily be confused.   Only one of the four works as both a noun AND a verb.   Which one ?

67. They can make you better, briefly: MEDs.   Medicines, like Aleve and Advil.

68. Basically: IN ESSENCE.

69. Annoyance: PEST.

70. Do, for example: NOTE.   Trickery.   The musical note.     '...Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, and Si are used to name notes the same way that the letters C, D, E, F, G, A, and B are used to name notes in English." - Wikipedia.

71. Cutty __: SARK.   The famous fast clipper sailing ship built in Scotland in 1869, now residing in dry dock at Greenwich, London as a museum ship.   Some fifty years after her construction, the Scotch whisky was created and named after her.    The ship was named for the short skirt worn by the witch in the Robert Burns poem Tam o' Shanter. 

Down:

1. Fall mo.: OCT. Month / October

2. Kabuki kin: NOH.

3. Give the wrong change, say: ERR.

4. Acts of reparation: ATONEMENTs.

5. IRS IDs: SSNs.   Internal Revenue Service / Social Security Numbers.

6. Talks up: TOUTs. Talks down: Calms.

7. Musical in which FDR is a character: ANNIE.  Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Here's the famous scene:

8. Gave up: CEDED.    Gave down: See 23(D).

9. Board mem.: DIR.   Member / Director.

10. Expresses a preference (for): OPTs.

11. Blah: HO-HUM. Meh.

12. "A Passage to India" heroine: ADELA.   Adela Quested - SparkNotes

14. "Lemme!": I WANNA.

17. Age relatives: ERAs.   A distinct period of history. eg, The Dinosaur Age or the Ice Age.   Thomas Paine wrote The Age of Reason.

21. Delay: LAG.

22. Not quite identical: ALIKE.   Like fraternal twins.

23. Comforter: DUVET.   What is the best down for a duvet ?   Hungarian goose down ?   Icelandic Eiderdown ?    Best Downs for a Good Night's Sleep

25. It's often served with nutmeg: NOG.   Here served in a coupe:

28. "... __ woodchuck could chuck wood?": IF A.   "Hey you dang woodchucks!   Quit chucking my wood !"    BTW, in the Geico Sequels run off, the Racoon commercials are comfortably ahead.

30. Subjects of European trials during the Renaissance: WEREWOLVES.

32. Wd. ending in -less: ADJ.   Adjective.   The part of speech.    This clue stumped me for way too long, and that was with AD- in place !   After finally getting enough letters to see JAPANESE at 44A, it became clear. D'OH !

33. FDR power plan: TVA. Franklin Delano Roosevelt / Tennessee Valley Authority.  The TVA at History.com 

36. Botch: MISDO.   Act wrongly.

37. Common sense?: SMELL.    Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense.  "The most important political tract of the Revolution was written not by a lawyer or university-educated philosopher, but by a former corset maker."

40. Bloke: LAD.

43. It may be tapped into a tray: ASH.

45. Parents, usually: NAMERs.

48. P.R. part: RICO.   Puerto Rico.

50. Appear: ACT.

51. Fluff, as pillows: PLUMP.   The history of fluff.

52. Blender button: PUREE.    The first button I pushed was pulse, but the blend(er) of crossing clues didn't agree.

54. Hopeless: NO WIN.

55. "Beats me!": DUNNO.

56. Up in the air: UNSET.    Not yet decided. 

59. Aims: ENDs.   Had eyes first.  Don't know why.

61. Zaire's Mobutu __ Seko: SESE.

63. It ends shortly after 1-Down: DST.   Daylight Savings Time

64. __ moment: IN A.

65. "Bad Moon Rising" band, briefly: CCR.    Creedence Clearwater Revival.


66. "A rat!": EEK.


Check your answers against this grid: