Wednesday June 24, 2020 Roland Huget

Theme: JAM SESSION (58A: Impromptu performance ... or what the starts of 17-, 24-, 34- and 50-Across comprise?) - Jam can follow the first word of each them entry.

 

17. Sequential written evidence: PAPER TRAIL. Paper jam.

24. Firewood device: LOG SPLITTER. Logjam.

 

34. Winter carnival attraction: ICE PALACE. Ice jam.

50. Roadwork marker: TRAFFIC CONE. Traffic jam.

C.C. here. Let's hope all's OK with our Jazzbumpa, who had today's blogging slot. 

This is typical Monday/Tuesday LAT theme with words that can follow/precede theme. But the grid itself is quite Wednesday due to the theme entry length and fill. Always tougher to grid a set of 5 with a middle 9. This resulted in four chunks of stacked 7's. But  Roland is a pro. He makes both themed and themeless grids.

Across:

1. West Coast NFLer: LA RAM.

6. John Deere logo animal: STAG.

10. Hugging duo: ARMS.

14. Stage remark akin to thinking aloud: ASIDE.

15. "Take it!": HERE.

16. Linger in the bath: SOAK.

19. Colombian city: CALI.

20. Removes from the roster: CUTS.

21. Mojito liquor: RUM.

22. Was an omen of: BODED.

23. Singer DiFranco: ANI.

27. Juicy morsels: TIDBITS.

29. Bond creator Fleming: IAN.

30. Before now: AGO.

31. Rudder area: STERN.

32. Shade tree: ELM.

33. Figurehead location: PROW.

38. Sprinkler attachment: HOSE.

41. Took a load off: SAT.

42. Planetary path: ORBIT.

46. No longer fashionable: OUT.

47. Galley mover: OAR.

48. The art of sculpted shrubbery: TOPIARY. Brilliant fill.

53. Hide-hair connector: NOR.

54. Mar. honoree: ST PAT.

55. Story __: ARC.

56. "Show Boat" author Ferber: EDNA.

57. Estate document: WILL.

61. Iowa State city: AMES.

62. Creme-filled cookie: OREO.

63. Philly Ivy League sch.: UPENN.

64. French pop: PERE.

65. Ring stats: TKOS.

66. Prone to giving orders: BOSSY.

Down:

1. Purring companions: LAP CATS.

2. In sync, teamwise: AS A UNIT.

3. Dangerous current: RIPTIDE.

4. Fruit drinks: ADES.

5. Côte d'Azur view: MER.

6. Gestures of indifference: SHRUGS.

7. Reds and Red Sox: TEAMS.

8. Radio journalist Shapiro who sings with Pink Martini: ARI.

9. Come together: GEL.

10. Fancy neckwear: ASCOT.

11. Street sealer: ROAD TAR.

12. Guy's sense of self-importance: MALE EGO.

13. Impoverished urban area: SKID ROW.

18. Jogging pace: TROT.

22. Coal holder: BIN.

24. "The Mod Squad" role: LINC.

25. Tiresome person: PILL.

26. Tibetan priest: LAMA.

28. Actress Larson who plays Captain Marvel: BRIE.

32. Enjoy a meal: EAT.

33. Prefix with meter: PERI.

35. Actor Morales: ESAI.

36. Paris picnic area: PARC.

37. Manage: COPE.

38. Replacement of computer parts without a reboot: HOT SWAP. Gimme for TTP/AnonT/D-Otto. New term to me.

39. Dating site for singles 50 and older: OURTIME. Also new to me.

40. Desk gadget: STAPLER.

43. Tosses about, as ideas: BANDIES.

44. T-shirt transfers: IRON-ONS.

45. Oppressive rule: TYRANNY.

47. Many times o'er: OFT.

48. Sculpted trunks: TORSOS.

49. Way back when: ONCE.

51. F on a test, often: FALSE.

52. Brief appearance: CAMEO.

56. Hockey's Phil, to fans: ESPO.

58. Make a note of, with "down": JOT.

59. Noah's craft: ARK.

60. Underwater craft: SUB.

C.C.

Tuesday, June 23, 2020 Warren Houck

The Eyes Have It.  The letter "I" is found side-by-side in each theme answer.

3-Across.  *  Many an Iraqi Muslim: SHIITE.  One of the two major branches of Islam.

18-Across.  *   From the 50th state: HAWAIIAN.  The Hibiscus is the official flower of Hawaii (and my garden, which is not in Hawaii).  Look closely to see the real Hibiscus,

23-Across.  *   City buried by Vesuvius' eruption: POMPEII.  I visited Pompeii last September.  The tiles and mosaics are truly spectacular.

40-Across.  *   Rolling to the terminal: TAXIING.

55-Across.  *   Berra's "No one goes there anymore. It's too crowded," e.g.: YOGIISM.  A term used exclusively to the sayings of Yogi Berra (né Lawrence Peter Berra; May 12, 1925 ~ Sept. 22, 2015).  He acquired the nickname "Yogi" because he had a habit of sitting cross-legged while waiting to bat and a teammate thought he looked like a meditating yogi.

60-Across.  *   Asian mushroom: SHIITAKE.

And the Unifier:
68-Across. "Yes, captain" ... and a phonetic hint to the answers to starred clues: AYE, AYE!

Across:

1. Conversations: TALKS.  Chats or Talks?

6. Flows back: EBBs.

10. "Doctor Who" channel: BBC.  There have been 13 Doctor Whos.  The current Doctor Who is a woman.

15. Congeal: CLOT.

16. __ de Janeiro: RIO.

17. Great new talent: PHENOM.

20. "Hold tight!": GRAB ON!

22. Like at least six periodic table gases: NOBLE.  The Nobel gases are inert: Helium (He); Neon (Ne); Argon (Ar); Krypton (Kr); Xenon (Xe); and Radon (Rn).

26. Vital organ pair: KIDNEYS.

28. Smoothie superfruit: ACAI.  The Açaí berry has become a crossword staple.  It looks rather like a blueberry.

29. Partners' legal entity: Abbr.: LLC.  As in a Limited Liability Company.  Actually, since the clue indicates the answer should be a Limited Liability Partnership.

31. "Deck the Halls" contraction: 'TIS.  Summer is not 'tis the season to be jolly.

32. Horses' houses: BARNS.  Because Stable wouldn't fit.

34. Like Cheerios: OATEN.

36. Cigar remnants: ASH.

39. Cunning: SLY.

42. Meadow: LEA.

43. Prof.'s aides: TAs.  As in Teaching Assistants.

44. Dress named for a letter: A-LINE.  The A-line dress was first designed by Christian Dior (1905 ~ 1957) in the 1940s.  It describes a dress with a triangular silhouette that is narrow and fitted at the top and widens out to the hem in a rough shape of an A.

45. Red giant in the night sky: S-STAR.

47. Gobbled down: ATE.

48. Oilers, on NHL scoreboards: EDM.  As in the Edmonton Oilers, the National Hockey League team from Edmonton, Canada.  The only player I know of who played for the Oilers is Wayne Gretzky (b. Jan. 26, 1961).

50. Drake or drone, e.g.: MALE.  One is a duck and the other is a bee, but both can fly.

51. Sully, as a reputation: TARNISH.  Has the silverware suffered from a sullied reputation?

57. Borders on: ABUTS.

58. Frightened, in Shakespeare: AFEARD.

62. Prove false: NEGATE.

66. Truck weight unit: TON.

67. "Bright" thought: IDEA.

69. Unit of work: ERG.

70. Sell for: COST.

71. Snide commentary: SNARK.

Down:

1. 1/6 fl. oz.: TSP.  As in a Teaspoon.

2. Spa user's reaction: AHH!

3. Golf ball position: LIE.

4. Bigwig: KINGPIN.

5. Department __: STORE.  Filene's was the Department Store of my childhood.

6. "HELLO ... (hello) ...," e.g.: ECHO.

7. Shut out, in a game: BLANK.

8. Arrow shooter: BOW.

9. Table showing teams' won-lost records: STANDINGS.

10. Under-the-table money: BRIBE.

11. Onion bagel alternative: BIALY.  The difference between a Bagel and a Bialy.  We haven't found a decent bialy in years, but good bagels we have.

12. Ice cream holders: CONES.

14. Texting alternative: E-MAIL.

19. Charged particles: IONS.  Any questions?

21. Mississippi port: BILOXI.  It's also the home of the Jefferson Davis Presidential Library.

23. Blue Ribbon beer: PABST.

24. City about 65 miles west of Daytona Beach: OCALA.

25. Two of them precede "quite contrary": MARYs.  Mary, Mary, quite contrary / How does your garden grow?

27. Fla.-to-Cal. highway: I-TEN.  I live just off I-10.

30. Fictional mutiny ship: CAINE.  The Caine Mutiny was a novel by Herman Wouk (1915 ~ 2019), and was made into a film starring Humphrey Bogart (1899 ~ 1957) as Commander Queeg.

33. Sports page datum: STATISTIC.

35. Many a Woodstock T-shirt: TIE-DYE.

36. Asia's __ Mountains: ALTAI.  The Ural Mountains are the usual crossword answer.  The Altai Mountains are much further east.  Not your typical Tuesday fare.

37. Flippered mammals: SEALS.  //  38. Group of 37-Down: HAREM.

41. Bar pints: ALES.

46. Wee bit: SMIDGEN.

47. Against: ANTI-.

49. Polynesian Disney princess: MOANA.

51. Ability to discern quality: TASTE.

52. Find repugnant: ABHOR.

53. Regretting: RUING.

54. Cod cousins: HAKES.

56. Overcast colors, in London: GREYS.

59. Tour de force: FEAT.

61. Brouhaha: ADO.

63. Strong bond rating: AAA.

64. Norse god of war: TÝR.  I am not up on my Norse mythology.

65. "A mouse!": EEK!

Here's the Grid:

QOD:  Live like you’ll died tomorrow, work like you don’t need the money, and dance like nobody’s watching.  ~  Bob Fosse (né Robert Louis Fosse; b. July 23, 1927 ~ Sept. 23, 1987), American choreographer and film director

Monday June 22, 2020 Jordan Hildebrandt

Theme: FRIED RICE (62. Chinese menu standard, or what's literally found in the circled letters?) - Letters of RICE are scrambled up.

17. Boss on a red truck: FIRE CHIEF.

25. Writer of arcade entertainment reviews: GAME CRITIC.

38. Frozen food biggie: MARIE CALLENDER'S.

50. National STEM Competition for middle school visionaries: FUTURE CITY. According to Wikipedia, Future City Competition is a national competition in the United States that focuses on improving students' math, engineering, and science skills. The program is open to students in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades who attend a public, private or home school.

Boomer here. 

C.C. said this is Jordan Hildebrandt's LA Times debut. Congratulations, Jordan!

June 22 has good and bad memories for me. My first child, by a previous marriage, Deborah was born on June 22, 1970.  That's the good memory.  Sadly Debbie passed away from heart disease at the age of ten on June 25, 1980.  I cannot imagine her at age 50.  Rest in peace my sweet little girl.

Across:

1. Transplant to a new container: REPOT. No pots for us. Our plants and flowers are in the garden.

6. Wd. modifying a noun: ADJ.

9. Triumphant shouts: TADAS.  Might have been a few at the RBC Heritage last weekend, but I did not hear any.

14. Appliance maker: AMANA.  Made in our neighbor to the south, Amana, Iowa.  Home of the Wurst Festival.

15. CT scan relative: MRI.  I suspect Abejo can tell you about his.  I will never forget mine two years ago.

16. Room on the Clue board: STUDY.

19. Tuesday fare?: TACOS.  I have seen the ads for Taco John's. We have not purchased restaurant food since the virus shutdown. Anyway, I mentioned before, C.C. and I prefer buffets, The Mystic Lake Casino has excellent tacos in their buffet, but it is not yet open. You need to gamble hungry.

20. Letters before "Fridays" in a restaurant name: TGI.  I think the Minnesota ones have closed.

21. Campus party garb: TOGA.  Good old "Animal House" - I miss John Belushi.

22. Arrange in order: SORT. I cannot even try to remember how many hours I spent sorting baseball cards. A labor of love.

23. Divisions of history: ERAS. Or  "Pitcher's stats".  On the backs of their baseball cards.

29. Detox facility: REHAB.

31. Long __ of the law: ARM. Saw a few of these in Tulsa on Saturday.

32. In the past: AGO.  "A long, long time AGO, I can still remember how the music used to make me smile."  Don McClean - "American Pie"

33. Riotous spree: RAMPAGE.

37. Per item: A POP.  I am having A POP as I write this. It's diet Ginger Ale.

42. Desktop image: ICON.

43. Premier League powerhouse: ARSENAL.  I thought this was a stash of weapons and ammo.

44. Progressive spokeswoman: FLO. Yup I have Progressive. I rate them third in stupid car insurance commercials.  Behind #1 Liberty Mutual, and #2 GEICO.

45. Toward the stern: AFT.  In a big ship.  The kind I saw docked at Harbor Town last weekend.  In the fishing boats that I commanded the motor was "AFT" (Pronounced MOTOR, Not MO TORE)

46. French fathers: PERES.

55. Eye care brand: RENU.  I wear glasses.  C.C. likes contacts and I think she uses this.

56. Sword's sharp part: EDGE.  Ford makes a mini SUV called an EDGE.  No payments for three months. and I have no interest in this car.

57. 1857 litigant Scott: DRED.  We studied some of this in High School and it should be a topic for today's "Black Lives Matter" movement.  Dred was a black American in Missouri.  He sued for his freedom and it got to the Supreme Court but they ruled against 7 - 2.  By the way, in case you have not heard, the Minnesota Twins removed the statue of previous owner Calvin Griffith.  He was a cheap bigot and there is no reason to honor his memory.

59. Road goo: TAR.

60. Super-excited: GIDDY.

64. Disney's Little Mermaid: ARIEL.

65. Sass: LIP.  TU of them make a flower.

66. Hilda and Zelda, to TV's Sabrina: AUNTS.  I remember playing the "Legend of Zelda" for hours on my Nintendo game.

67. Category in iTunes: GENRE.

68. Employ: USE.

69. Dough raiser: YEAST.  Great Stuff!!  I made pizza for a few years and we had to use yeast to tenderize the crust.

Down:

1. Roofing support: RAFTER.

2. Political refugee: EMIGRE.  I guess dreamers are not in that group and are here to stay. Thank you 5 of the big robes!

3. Outcast: PARIAH.

4. Number of beers that fall off the wall in each round of the song: ONE.  It takes about thirty miles in the car to finish this song.  I don't think I ever finished.  Did you like "Take one down and pass it around" or "If one of those bottles should happen to fall."  ??

5. Diplomat's skill: TACT.

6. Latina friend: AMIGA.  My buddy Jorge from Chile calls me AMIGO. 

7. "I Have a __": MLK: DREAM.  Again another timely reference.  I know I mentioned a couple of weeks ago regarding my experience at Fort Campbell on April 4, 1968.

8. Skippy rival: JIF. When I was young, my Cub Scout troop toured the Skippy factory in St. Louis Park, MN.  At the end of the tour we received a small jar.  The factory is gone now, but I am still loyal to the brand.

9. Noisy weather event, briefly: T-STORM.  We had a big one last week.  Thunder shook our house.

10. Arcade pioneer: ATARI.  Is this the same as Nintendo ??

11. All-purpose roll: DUCT TAPE.  Many uses, We have used a lot!

12. Hubbub: ADO.  Much ADO about nothing.

13. Part of CBS: Abbr.: SYS.  Looks like CBS has landed the PGA tournaments with no fans on the course.

18. Harley, e.g.: HOG.  They are a bit noisy, just like real HOGS.

22. It allows air but keeps out bugs: SCREEN. We have them, but once in awhile a Minnesota mosquito sneaks in and drives C.C. crazy.

24. Deadly nerve gas: SARIN.

26. Great Seal bird: EAGLE.  This would be two under par on one hole.  something I did once about 30-40 years ago on a par five.  On in two and one putt - about a 30 footer.

27. "Young Frankenstein" aide: IGOR.  "Oh Boy IGOR Stravinsky, Oh Boy, Bo Belinsky."  Allan Sherman.

28. Many "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" characters: COPS.

30. Sweetie, in slang: BAE.

34. Antivirus giant: MCAFEE.  Maybe we could take some for the Covid-19.  Just kidding, Do not try it.

35. Medicare Advantage, familiarly: PART C.  I have Medicare but don't use it.  Why are there SO MANY commercials for these add on plans.  Joe Namath - Don't you have anything to do??

36. Pacino and Roker: ALS.  Roker is a Joker.

37. Sherlock Holmes adversary Irene: ADLER.

38. Offend slightly: MIFF.

39. Civil rights org.: ACLU.  "Civil Rights Leaders are a pain in the neck, Can't hold a candle to Chiang Kai Shek, How do I know, I read it in the Daily News."  Tom Paxton.

40. Based on, as opinions vis-à-vis faith: ROOTED IN.

41. Daytime snooze: NAP.  No time, always have stuff to do.

45. Diamond pattern: ARGYLE.  No one will ever forget our Santa.

47. Light-sensitive eye layer: RETINA.

48. Passes, as laws: ENACTS.  Our Supreme Court has been busy lately. Not passing laws but deciding if they are okay.

49. Most certain: SUREST.

51. Part of a cow the milk comes from: UDDER.  Which cow?  This one or the UDDER one.??

52. Elba who played Mandela: IDRIS.

53. Total rubbish: TRIPE.  I always thought TRIPE was the part of the fish you toss away while cleaning it.

54. "__-haw!": YEE.  I used to watch "HEE-HAW"  YEE HAW sounds Chinese, I'll check with C.C.

58. June 6, 1944: D DAY.  I was not yet alive, But this day in history will long be remembered.

60. Gift at a white elephant exchange, say: GAG.

61. Wrath: IRE.

62. Annual shot target: FLU.  Hopefully the annual shot target in the future will be Covid-19.

63. Parisian street: RUE.  Or, one of the "Golden Girls".

Boomer