Wednesday, February 5, 2020, MaryEllen Uthlaut

Theme: GOOD THINGS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES

17. Compact: MAKEUP CONTAINER.

39. Compact: FORMAL AGREEMENT.

62. Compact: SMALL AUTOMOBILE.

Three grid-spanning theme answers, all with the same clue. Most of the fill was gettable, thankfully. The English language is full of words that have multiple, sometimes unrelated, meanings.

Across:

1. Twinings products: TEAS. Can never remember now many n's in this brand name. Speaking of tea brands, I've noticed that tea brands seem to have changed over the years. Specific flavors that I've had for years just don't taste the same.

5. Wolf pack leader: ALPHA. Alpha dog.

10. Oft-misused pronoun: WHOM. Grammarly.

14. Hall of Famer Donovan, first woman to coach a WNBA championship team: ANNE. 2011 interview.

15. One-piece dresses: SARIS.

16. Georgetown athlete: HOYA. The Georgetown Hoyas are the athletics teams that officially represent Georgetown University in college sports. The team name is derived from the mixed Greek and Latin chant "Hoya Saxa" (meaning "What Rocks"), which gained popularity at the school in the late nineteenth century.

20. Outshine: ECLIPSE.

21. Codgers: GEEZERS. Funny word.

22. Shorthand writer, for short: STENO. Stenographer. Steno- a combining form meaning “narrow,” “close,” used in the formation of compound words.

23. Haus husband: HERR. Learned from crosswords, finally remembered.

24. "Apollo 11" org.: NASA.

27. Solution for contacts: SALINE.

32. Decides: OPTS.

36. Attended, as college, with "to": WENT. My grandmother and her sisters, all from Texas, used to say "What went with the ____?" when they were looking for something.

38. Fibula neighbor: TIBIA.

42. Thumb one's nose at: FLOUT. Openly disregard (a rule, law or convention).

43. Air Quality Index factor: SMOG.

44. Old flames: EXES.

45. Bench-clearing brawls, e.g.: SETTOS. Another word I only see in crosswords, or old novels.

47. Big fusses: ADOS.

49. Grammar, in grammar: NOUN.

51. Slices in a pie, often: OCTAD. Recently seen on CBS.

56. Christmas show: PAGEANT.

60. Nutritionist's unit: CALORIE.

64. Soaks (up): SOPS.

65. Aptly named 1955 and 2019 Disney dog: TRAMP. Aw.

66. Oboe vibrator: REED.

67. Tupelo, e. g.: TREE. The most expensive honey in America. 

68. Chips in a chip: ANTES.

69. Mixes in: ADDS.

Down:

1. Subdues: TAMES.

2. Make into law: ENACT.

3. Common sprain site: ANKLE.

4. Welcome at the door: SEE IN.

5. Snakes in hieroglyphics: ASPS.

6. Bodice trim: LACE.

7. In favor of: PRO.

8. Depend (on): HINGE.

9. Daisylike fall flowers: ASTERS.

10. Zoom (by): WHIZ.

11. Refine, as skills: HONE.

12. Open hearing, in law: OYER. Heard quite a bit of late.

13. "24K Magic" singer Bruno: MARS.

18. Familiar with: UP ON.

19. Force gas into: AERATE.

23. Word-guessing game: HANGMAN.

25. Cobbler's tool: AWL.

26. Swell places?: SEAS. Nice clue.

28. Margarita garnish: LIME.

29. Goat with recurved horns: IBEX. Recurved - bent or curved backward.

30. Start of many a workday: NINE.

31. Revived Alton Brown cooking show "Good __": EATS.

32. Rip-__: thefts: OFFS.

33. Olympic vaulter's need: POLE.

34. Home run pace: TROT.

35. Indecent matter: SMUT.

37. Stepped heavily: TROD.

40. Without a musical key: ATONAL.

41. Self-awareness: EGO. Ram Dass (who passed away December 22, 2019) said you need just enough ego to to remember your Buddha Nature and your social security number.

46. Piano __: SONATA.

48. 46-Down, often: SOLO.

50. Difficult move in a busy intersection: U-TURN.

52. One leading a charmed life?: COBRA. Great clue.

53. Made an attempt: TRIED.

54. Needed to skip work, perhaps: AILED.

55. Closing documents: DEEDS.

56. "Hey, you!": PSST.

57. Deity with a bow: AMOR.

58. Stare in amazement: GAPE.

59. Otherwise: ELSE.

60. "The best is yet to __": COME.

61. Concert gear: AMPS.

63. Bit of body ink: TAT.

From C.C.:

Melissa said "jaelyn fell and broke her collarbone yesterday. she was really brave getting her x-ray."

Still smiling in her sling. Get well soon, Jaelyn!

Tuesday, February 4, 2020 Robin Stears

I'm so Dizzy with all this Spinning!

17-Across. Line on a Yankee uniform: PINSTRIPE.

27-Across. Youngest "American Idol" winner: JORDIN SPARKS.  I have never watched American Idol, so am not familiar with any winners.  The perps had to help supply most of the letters.  Apparently Jordin Brianna Sparks (b. Dec. 22, 1989) was just 17 years old when she became the American Idol winner.

44-Across. Several characters on TV's "The Americans": RUSSIAN SPIES.

And the Unifier:

60-Across. Washing machine feature shown graphically in this puzzle's circles: SPIN CYCLE.  The word "spin" cycles its letters around in the theme answers.

Across:

1. Madeline of "History of the World, Part I": KAHN.  Madeline Kahn (née Madeline Gail Wolfson; Sept. 29, 1942 ~ Dec. 3, 1999) played the role of Empress Nympho in the 1981 movie, History of the World, Part I.  Sadly, she died of ovarian cancer at age 57.

5. Respectful address to a woman: MA'AM.

9. Declare void: ANNUL.

14. Sailing or whaling: ASEA.

15. Jackson 5 hairdo: AFRO.

16. Golden-egg layer: GOOSE.

19. Lather, __, repeat: RINSE.

20. Have a share (of): PARTAKE.

21. Arachnophobe's worry: SPIDERS.

23. "__ questions?": ANY.

24. Lean (on): RELY.

26. "Gorillas in the Mist" primate: APE.  Gorillas in the Mist is the name of Dian Fosse's autobiography and scientific study of mountain gorillas in the forests of Rwanda.  Sadly, Fosse was murdered in December 1985 at age 53.

32. Skirt fold: PLEAT.

35. Facts and figures: DATA.

36. Square root of IX: III.  Roman math.  The Square Root of 9 is 3.

37. Open and breezy: AIRY.

38. Like babies' knees: PUDGY.  This was my last fill.  Pudgy never even occurred to me.  Do Babies Have Knee Caps?

40. Laugh really hard: HOWL.

41. Rule, briefly: REG.  Short for Regulation.

42. Pueblo-dwelling people: HOPI.  The Hopi Tribe is a sovereign nation primarily in Arizona.

43. Numerical relationship: RATIO.

48. List-ending abbr.: ETC.

49. Throw hard: HURL.

50. Morse code word: DAH.  This is another word for Dash

53. Portable charcoal grill: HIBACHI.  The chefs at Habachi grills in some Japanese restaurants can put on quite a show.

57. How some chew gum: NOISILY.

59. Novelist Wharton: EDITH.  Edith Wharton (née Edith Newbold Jones; Jan. 24, 1862 ~ Aug. 11, 1937) is an American novelist.  She was the first woman author to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Literature.  Some of her more well known works include House of Mirth, The Age of Innocence and Ethan Frome.  She died of a heart attack at age 75.

62. Free-for-all: MELEE.

63. "The African Queen" screenwriter James: AGEE.  James Rufus Agee (Nov. 27, 1909 ~ May 16, 1955) makes frequent guest appearances in the crossword puzzles.  In 1958, he was awarded posthumously a Pulitizer Prize.  Sadly, he died of a heart attack at age 45.

64. Gas in a sign: NEON.

65. Burpee buy: SEEDS.

66. Hospital section: WARD.

67. "¿Cómo __ usted?": ESTA.  Today's Spanish lesson.

Down:

1. Phi Beta __: KAPPA.  Phi Beta Kappa is the oldest academic honor society in the United States.  It was founded in December 1776.  The name comes from its motto, which translarted from the Greek means "Love of learning is the guide of life".  The phrase in Greek is  a 3 word term:  Φιλοσοφία Βίου Κυβερνήτης.

2. Lai or Thai: ASIAN.

3. Name of eight English kings: HENRY.  //  And 32-Down: Henry VIII's last wife Catherine: PARR.  He is probably best known for his six wives:  (1) Catherine of Aragon (1485 ~ 1536) ~ no son, wife no more; (2) Anne Boelyn (1501 ~ 1536), vague criminal allegations, so cut off her head; (3) Jane Seymour (1508 ~ 1537), births son, then dies; (4) Anne of Cleves (1515 ~ 1557), not a beauty, so off you go; (5) Catherine Howard (1523 ~ 1542), young and beautiful, but fools around, so off with your head; (6) Catherine Parr (1512 ~ 1548), educated and clever, she outlived her king.

4. Condé __: NAST.  Condé Montrose Nast (Mar. 26, 1873 ~ Sept. 19, 1942) was an American business magnate who founded a mass media company.  Many well known and established magazines, such as The New Yorker, Vogue, and Vanity Fair fall under the Condé Nast umbrella.  Nast the man built up a fortune with his media company, but was nearly destroyed during the Depression.

5. Sharpie, for one: MARKER.

6. Off the beaten path: AFIELD.

7. Dadaist Jean: ARP.  Jean Arp (Sept. 16, 1886 ~ June 7, 1966) makes frequent guest appearances in the crossword puzzles.  He was a French-German sculptor and artist, who sometimes known as Hans Arp.  His mother was French and his father was German.  He was instrumental in the Dada art movement.

Shirt Front and Fork, by Jean Arp

8. "The Simpsons" bar: MOE'S.

9. Marcus __, victorious commander at Actium: AGRIPPA.

10. "I'm drawing a blank": NO IDEA!

11. Zilch: NONE.

12. 44-Across' land: Abbr.: USSR.  As in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

13. Levi's alternatives: LEE'S.  Here's the difference between Levi's versus Lee jeans.  Translation required.

18. Mystic's deck: TAROT.

22. Sickly pale: PASTY.

25. Language that gave us "kvetch": YIDDISH.

27. Gatsby of "The Great Gatsby": JAY.  The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald.  It has also been made in to several movies versions.

28. Remind nonstop: NAG.  This clue made no sense to me until the perps finally filled in all the letters.

29. Run amok: RIOT.

30. Fuzzy fruit: KIWI.  Yummers!

31. Fodder holder: SILO.

33. In __ of: substituted for: LIEU.

34. Energy units: ERGS.  Did you known that Ergs are also land formations in the desert.

38. Cook just below a boil: POACH.

39. Network absorbed by The CW: UPN.  The CW Network is a joint venture between the CBS Entertainment Group and WarnerBrothers, hence it's name.  UPN (United Paramount Network) apparently was absorbed by The CW at some point in time. 

40. Possesses: HAS.

42. Bums a ride: HITCHES.

43. Piece from the past: RELIC.

45. On chairs: SEATED.

46. Smaller and weaker: PUNIER.

47. Smoothed out the wrinkles: IRONED.

50. Cuts into cubes: DICES.

51. Portion out: ALLOT.

52. "Laughing" scavenger: HYENA.

53. Garment edges: HEMS.

54. Bordeaux notion: IDEE.  Today's French lesson.

55. Gallbladder fluid: BILE.

56. Part of Caesar's boast: I SAW.

58. Holiday song ender: SYNE.  Just a month or so off for this song.

61. Ryder Cup co-administrating org.: PGA.

Here's the Grid:

QOD:  If you wish to avoid seeing a fool, first break your mirror.  ~  François Rabelais (1483 ~ Apr. 9, 1553), French Renaissance writer

Monday February 3, 2020 David Poole

Theme: PINHEADS (62. Tops of sewing fasteners ... and what the starts of 17-, 26-, 37- and 51-Across can have) - The first word can follow "pin".

17. Getaway car driver: WHEEL MAN. Pinwheel.

26. Golfer's dream: HOLE IN ONE. Pinhole.

37. You can't go back after passing it: POINT OF NO RETURN. Pinpoint.

 

51. Kit and caboodle: BALL OF WAX. Pinball.

Boomer here. Good bye January!!  Come again when you can't stay so long.  We had a taste of Spring on Groundhog Day.  45 degrees up here in the frozen tundra. I am sure the groundhog saw his shadow and old man winter will get even.  In Minnesota, when snow melts on February 2, it generally turns to ice by February 4.

Quite a Super Bowl football game yesterday.  I confess, I did not watch the halftime show or the commercials.  My remote channel changer got a workout, but Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Across:

1. Actor Beatty: NED.  He had parts in a lot of movies.  My favorite was "Deliverance".

4. Spirited horse: ARAB.  I thought "Maximum Security" was pretty spirited in the Derby.  I still don't know why the horse was disqualified.

8. Cold-weather omen on Groundhog Day: SHADOW. "Me, and my shadow, strolling down the avenue."

14. Prefix with Pen: EPI.

15. Leisurely pace: LOPE.  Certainly was not Maximum Security's faux pas.

16. Dwell: RESIDE. If the siding on your dwelling becomes rotten, you will need to reside.

19. Flowery van Gogh painting: IRISES.  "I could have told you Vincent, this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you",  "Starry Night" by Don McClean in the American Pie album.  A little history.  Don McClean was waiting in Fargo for the Buddy Holly plane that did not make it.

20. Superficially highbrow: ARTY.  I remember ARTY Johnson in "Laugh In", although I suppose it could have been ARTIE.

21. Play segments: ACTS.

23. Cheese go-with: MAC.  Get a big one at the golden arches for about $2.50.

24. Injured in the bullring: GORED. The U.S. was not gored after the long recount in Florida in 2000.

30. Put inside: ENCLOSE.  Nielsen ratings called me on the phone and sent me $3.00 enclosed in a letter just for telling them what TV shows I watched last Saturday.

32. German "east": OST.

33. Dead __ Scrolls: SEA.  Seattle Airport designation??

34. Bank acct. addition: INT.  Generally it comes after the decimal point.

35. Little trickster: IMP.  Too early for Halloween.

36. One of 50 on the U.S. flag: STAR.  "Oh say can you see?"

42. Went up: ROSE. By any other name still smells the same.

43. 35-Down relative: LLC. 35. Business name abbr.: INC.

44. Land in the Seine: ILE.

45. Lennon's love Yoko: ONO.  Still alive and well in her mid 80s.

46. Chinese chairman: MAO.  Many years ago.  Mr. Mao Zedong is no longer with us.

47. Everlasting: ETERNAL. My Mom's name was Hope. She always repeated "Hope springs ETERNAL."

54. Hundred Acre Wood creator: MILNE. I asked Winnie the Pooh and he knew nothing about Hundred Acre Woods.

55. Help: AID.

56. Lab safety org.?: SPCA.

58. Clinton and Obama, astrologically: LEOS.  I guess they were both Lions.

59. Escape: GET OUT.  Bar call at 1:00 AM in Minnesota.  And it may be a good idea to take a cab or Uber.

64. In a fair way: EVENLY.

65. Ivan or Nicholas: TSAR.

66. Observe: SEE.  "I SEE said the blind man, but he really didn't..."

67. Common people, with "the": MASSES.  My church has three.  I usually go to the early Sunday performance.

68. "Family Guy" creator MacFarlane: SETH.

69. "Cats" monogram: TSE.  Half of a fly.

Down:

1. Genre for Enya: NEW AGE.  I think NEW AGE is a brand name.  You can buy everything from soda pop to siding on your house.  I don't think they sell bowling balls though so who cares.

2. Screenwriter Nora: EPHRON. "You've Got Mail" director.

3. Low-calorie cola, familiarly: DIET RC.  WOW.  Royal Crown was the first  to release Diet Cola. I think they called it "Diet Rite".  Someone correct me if I am wrong.  I think it was the late fifties, and sometimes I cannot remember what I had for breakfast.

4. 100 percent: ALL.  You can wash clothes with it.

5. Most populous città in Italia: ROMA.  Evidently the Italians forgot how to spell Rome.

6. Geronimo's tribe: APACHE.

7. Japanese box lunch: BENTO.

8. __ Lanka: SRI.

9. Hardly a social butterfly: HERMIT.  Remember Herman's Hermits.  "There's a kind of hush, all over the world tonight."

10. From China, say: ASIAN.  Yes, that would be C.C. and NO she does NOT have the coronavirus.

11. "The Simpsons" character named for a dance era: DISCO STU.  Sorry, I have never watched the Simpsons, and I lied, I am not sorry.

12. Keats' "__ on a Grecian Urn": ODE. Bobby Gentry - "It was the third of June another sleepy dusty Delta Day"  Ode to Billy Joe,  or an airline that is not flying to China this month.

13. Director Craven: WES.

18. Face sketcher's horizontal reference: EYE LINE.

22. NFL replay review aid: SLO MO.  We saw a lot of these yesterday.  And a lot of commercials, also.

25. "Please stop!": DON'T.  "Don't be cruel, to a heart that's true !"  Elvis.

27. __ de corps: camaraderie: ESPRIT.  I think this is Latin for we get along.  I think the Marines picked up on it because of "Corps" in the saying.

28. Not at all far: NEAR.

29. Pull down, as a salary: EARN.  Over the weekend, I was watching the famous Waste Management Phoenix golf tournament players pulling down a salary in front of really loud fans.

31. Minn. college named for a Norwegian king: ST OLAF. In Northfield, MN. I used to call on St.Olaf and sold electrical stuff to the college maintenance department. Great people!  Now I only visit Northfield in the fall to bowl a tournament at Jesse James Lanes.  Jesse was shot in Northfield in April of 1882 but now the city celebrates the notoriety with annual celebrations and parades. C.C. and I visited Carlton College in Northfield several years ago for a crossword presentation by Matt Ginsberg, the creator of Dr. Fill.

Left to Right: George Barany, David Liben-Nowell, Matt Ginsberg, C.C. & Tom Pepper

36. Squeaky clean, as an operating room: STERILE.  I don't know about STERILE, but you would be amazed by the entire cleanliness of the VA Medical facility and hospital in Minneapolis.

37. "No __!": "Easy!": PROB.

38. Charlie Chaplin's actress granddaughter: OONA.  Strange name, but she is indeed a relative of silent film Chaplin.

39. Quarantines: ISOLATES.

40. Runs smoothly: FLOWS.  We have the Mississippi which is very controlled and flows smoothly up north.  However weather forecasters are predicting floods this spring.  Normally the tributaries get over their banks up here.  Then the Mississippi gets troublesome on its way to St. Louis.

41. K thru 6: ELEM.  "Elementary my dear Watson."

46. The "M" in LEM: MODULE.

47. Type of tax: EXCISE.  We don't see much of this or it's buried in the price.  But beware of April 15.

48. Phillies' div.: NL EAST.

49. Voltaic cell terminals: ANODES.

50. Tenant: LESSEE.  I visited the VA clinic on Friday and noticed another 2000 unit apartment building going up in Ramsey, MN.  Not a real lively city but I can imagine the rent would be more reasonable than downtown.

52. Detroit NFL team: LIONS.  In the Vikings division. They have come down a bit since the days of Barry Sanders.

53. Dr. visits: APPTS.  My last one was just a blood draw.  PSA was 0.20.  Next doctor hello is in March.

57. Med. school subject: ANAT.  If you have an APPT,  you hope the DR. took ANAT.

59. Diamond, for one: GEM.  Every Baseball field has one.

60. Sister of Zsa Zsa: EVA.  The great Lisa Douglas of Green Acres.

61. TV's Burrell and Pennington: TYS.

63. Princely title: Abbr.: HRH.  Certainly were a lot of three letter answers in the puzzle.

Boomer