Saturday, December 19, 2020, Brian Paquin

 Saturday Themeless by Brian E. Paquin

Here's another fun puzzle from our great cadre of Canadian constructors. Today Brian Paquin, who lives on the north shores of Lake Ontario in Kingston, Ontario, provides a fun and challenging puzzle. He graciously shared these thoughts:

Hi again Gary,

I think that this is one of the cleanest grids that I've ever produced.   I kind of like the long entries, especially 5D AMENTOTHAT and 42A TIPPYTOES. Of the not-so-long entries, 11D BROHUGS and 38D AMILATE are kind of sparkly, I think.

There are more black squares and cheaters than I normally use in a themeless, but there is nothing especially obscure to be found in the grid.    

41A SAMI is tough: I had it clued as "___-Am" from Dr. Seuss, but that might be too much of a gimme.  I managed to avoid everything from my list 

of dreaded tiresome entries, like AREA, EKE, ONO, etc.  You know the ones.

I didn't remember that 30D TROI was partially 31D TELEPATHIC, so that was a good catch by the editors.

In terms of stats: Of the 68 entries, 27 of the clues were changed significantly, so about 60% of mine survived (16 exactly the same, 25 fairly close). The only new clue that I found to be strange was for 45D EATEN ("Taken in").  It didn't quite click with me, but I will be interested to hear what others thought of it.

I hope that everyone will have a good holiday season.  Let's hope that the next one will be back to normal!

Brian

Across:

1. Kitten cry: MEWL - I don't know when a kitten's MEWL turns into 

a cat's MEOW

5. Top-notch: A-PLUS.

10. "Fawlty Towers" network: BBC - A hilarious vehicle for John Cleese, et al

13. Not a brick-and-mortar operation: E-SHOP 

15. Squirrel's pal, to Boris: MOOSE and 22. Boris' sidekick: NATASHA.

16. Mess up: ERR.

17. Cone topper: SCOOP 

18. Send: ELATE - Here's some ear candy for your Saturday using this 50's slang! 

19. Surname suggesting anonymity: DOE.

20. Ride __: SHOTGUN - Below is the genesis of that phrase. I rode SHOTGUN (sat in the front passenger seat) many times but never with a firearm    

24. Agent taking a cut?: REPresenative 

25. '70s-'80s televangelist show "The __ Club": PTL - They had a lot of 'splainin' to do when they got charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud with their Praise The Lord Ministries

27. Disgust: ODIUM - See above

28. Endures anxiously: SWEATS OUT - Might make you 32. Not at all cool: EDGY.

33. Assets of KFC and Coca-Cola, e.g.: SECRET RECIPES

36. Relentlessly: TO THE LAST - Prepare to be moved

37. Classic '60s hit that mentions a roller coaster: PALISADES PARK - A hit for Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon 

41. Nordic language: SAMI.

42. Much ballet dancing is done on them: TIPPY TOES - This lovely seasonal music is from my favorite ballet, ok, the only I've ever seen but the music - это так красиво (it is so beautiful)

44. Kid's transport: TRIKE.

46. Inverness objection: NAE - The Loch Ness is just SW of Inverness, Scotland. I suspect if you asked most residents if they have 48. As a minimum: AT LEAST seen the monster, they would reply, "NAE!"

47. White or Black: SEA.

 

51. Upper arm muscle: TRICEPS - Biceps flex the lower arm and the TRICEPS extend it

54. Genetic messenger: RNA - Messenger in the clue signals RNA not DNA

55. Tusk, in fact: TOOTH.

57. Has status: RATES - "Hey, how do you RATE going first?"

58. Examine carefully: VET - Failure to VET an prospective employee or candidate can lead to real embarrassment  

59. Same old same old feeling: ENNUI - L'ennui by Mireille Potvin. I wonder if our art curator Jeffrey Wechsler is familiar with this piece.

60. __ nous: ENTRE - S'il vous plaît, gardez cette histoire ENTRE nous (Please keep this story between us)

61. "... __ the set of sun": "Macbeth": ERE - "Receiveth out of Stratford On Avon ERE the set of the sun" said Shire Reeve Bill. 😊

62. '90s-'00s band with a star in its logo: NSYNC.

63. Hardy girl: TESS - Thomas Hardy's TESS of the d'Urbervilles Read a squashed version in 50 minutes

                                    
Down:

1. Mr. and Mr.: MESSRS - An 1917 ad for a Standard Dictionary by MESSRS Funk and Wagnalls 

2. Shuns: ESCHEWS.

3. "Yay!": WHOOPEE - The Newlywed Game changed the sense of the word

4. Haul: LOOT - Not the verb but the noun

5. "I couldn't agree more": AMEN TO THAT.

6. Campaign pro: POL - "I have had my fill of campaigns!" See fill above!

7. Grant alternative: LOAN.

8. Court org.: USTA.

9. Address: SEE TO - or...

10. __ manner: BEDSIDE.

11. Guy greetings: BROHUGS.

12. Like bisque: CREAMY 

Lobser Bisque

14. NBA scoring stat: PPG.

21. Riles: UPSETS.

23. Able to do well: ADEPT AT.

26. Cleverly attracted: LURED IN.

29. Do an impersonation of: ACT LIKE.

30. Half-Betazoid aboard the Enterprise: TROI and 31. Like 30-Down, to an extent: TELEPATHIC - Listed sixth on her card

34. Wyoming's "Oil City": CASPER.

35. Guessing game for a road trip: I SPY with my little eye a black and white car with a flashing red light coming up quickly behind us. Any guesses?

37. Associate: PARTNER.

38. Comment from one hurrying in: AM I LATE - Couldn't resist this 2020 school cartoon 

39. Floral cake decoration: ROSETTE - Wow!

40. Fish that measure up: KEEPERS.

41. Fast to the extreme: STARVE - I told Brian I struggled with this until I finally saw Fast as "not eating".

43. Acts smart with: SASSES.

45. Taken in: EATEN - I wasn't taken in by the alternate meaning of this phrase.

49. Word in family business names: SONS - The Don's SONS went into the family business 

50. One of Tommy Tune's ten: TONY - He has won TONY awards for acting, directing, choreography and lifetime achievement. Yes, that's his real name, he was born Thomas James Tune in Wichita Falls, TX.

52. Steam: IRE.

53. Is unable to: CAN'T.

56. Vineyard vessel: TUN - As you can clearly see, a TUN is equal to four Hogsheads or 252 gallons

Friday, December 18, 2020, Robin Stears

  Title: It's my job man not my life.

I agree, not every title is a gem, but 2020 is almost over and I am worn out. Robin's debut at the LAT was this 2009 FRIDAY which is worth visiting because it tells us about Robin, and also shows the joy of a C.C. write-up which led to her being a preeminent constructor. Today's effort is substantially easier, with a wordplay gimmick that makes sense once you see it. After a brief struggle, the always helpful 17A filled and I was off to the races. There were some unknowns but the perps were all fair and the longer non-theme fill helped getting the solve. ARRANGE, AVONLEA, ENLARGE, IVORIES, MIDEAST, YIELDED, BROWN BAG, and COOLANTS were the helpers. We end up with 5 fill in the theme symmetrically placed. So now what?

First the themers, then the rest. 

17A. Organizer of a party for a mom-to-be?: SHOWER HEAD(10). The mandatory baby shower is not just for females any more in our new realities.

25A. Class clown at the prom?: DANCE CARD(9). If you call someone a card, it means they’re funny or quick-witted. This is discussed on a radio show.

34A. Musicians at a formal gala?: BALL PLAYERS(11). A CSO to our own Trombone master JzB. 

49A. The most amazing party guests ever?: DO WONDERS(9). Sussing this one was the most difficult. First, you have to relate to throwing a  DO, meaning a party. The dictionary says this is a mostly British definition of a social event such as a party. The WONDER as a noun, oh my he is a Wonder!

58A. Radio hobbyists at a park outing?: PICNIC HAMS(10). This is very cute. 

Across:

1. HBO political satire until 2019: VEEP. The show that won Julia Louis-Dreyfus more Emmys.

5. Low areas: DALES. A CSO to dear Lucina.

10. __-deucey: ACEY. A card game I have not played in years which I have seen in rare visits to the casinos.

14. Limo bar: AXLE. I never get tired of a good misdirection.

15. Light __: Offenbach music genre: OPERA. This is a short, amusing musical play; an operetta. This is OFFENBACH. 

16. Love of "The Real": LONI. I knew nothing of this comedian, her show or the CONTROVERSY.

19. __ vault: POLE. What else would you call it?

20. Tree goo: SAP. Goo?

21. Collar: NAIL. Think police and a perpetrator.

22. Judaism : kosher :: Islam : __: HALAL.

23. Inuit relative: ALEUT. The same but DIFFERENT.

28. Depot worker: REDCAP. A train depot, as these are baggage handlers at the train station.

30. Orchestrate: ARRANGE. One could think about arranging as a type of musical composition, requiring the same skills and talents required of all composers. Orchestration is the art and craft of arranging a musical composition for performance by an orchestra or other ensemble. According to New Music Box.

31. "Kung Fu Panda" voice actress Lucy: LIU.

32. Health haven: SPA.

33. Dude who time-travels with Bill: TED. And they have excellent adventures.

38. Damage: MAR.

40. Sauce in a tiny packet: SOY. Very Asian.

41. Ergonomic kitchenware brand: OXO.

42. Keys for a music room?: IVORIES. Keys, NOT keys!
                                    
45. Words of emphasis: NO LESS.

52. Car company that owns SolarCity: TESLA. A pure guess, but why not.

53. Blah feeling: ENNUI. High school.

54. German automaker: AUDI.

56. Prefix with gender: CIS. Another modern word added- cisgender.

57. Mass robes: ALBS. Not sure why but I always remember this fill.

61. Political goal: SEAT.

62. Field of conflict: ARENA.

63. Weapon with two accents: ÉPÉE. Both of which are French.

64. States' plates: TAGS.

65. She played Julia in "Julie & Julia": MERYL. Did you know that because of Meryl Streep's height (5'6") several camera/set/costume tricks had to be employed to mimic Julia Child's height (6'2")? Countertops were lowered, Streep wore extra-high heels, and forced perspective camera angles were used. 

66. Major muddle: MESS. I am into kerfuffle today. 

Down:

1. Poughkeepsie campus: VASSAR. Once a famous female-only school, now COED.

2. Yoga class directive: EXHALE. Breathe in, breathe out; repeat.

3. Got together quietly?: ELOPED. I like this clue/fill combo.

4. Place to pray: PEW. Unless it is Pepe Le's place.

5. Bilingual toon explorer: DORA. She is becoming a regular, but I guess if it were clued, "Jason's aunt" it wouldn't be fair.

6. Rose pest: APHID. While they benefit Peonies, not so much roses. You can often get rid of the aphids by wiping or spraying the leaves of the plant with a mild solution of water and a few drops of dish soap.

7. "Futurama" woman with one eye and purple hair: LEELA. I could hear Katey Sagal's voice but my brain only got me as far as Leeza which I knew was wrong.

8. Detergent brand: ERA.

9. Pathetic: SAD.

10. Source of silky wool: ALPACA.

11. Radiator fillers: COOLANTS.

12. Blow up: ENLARGE. A photograph, not a bomb.

13. Produced: YIELDED.

18. Necessitate: ENTAIL.

22. Part of HRH: HER. Or HIS Royal Highness.

24. Bruins' sch.: UCLA. University of California Los Angeles. They played a classic football game last Saturday. 

26. Valley with a Wine Train: NAPA. California's wine region; more from Chairman Moe if he feels like it.

27. Handout with a kids' menu: CRAYON. Restaurants want to keep the little ones occupied so they do not disturb the haters.

29. Throbbed: PULSED. Either a headache or a ... oh never mind.

32. Subtle: SLY.

34. There might be a lunch in it for you: BROWN BAG. Before fast food was king you brought your lunch to work either in a lunch box or a brown bag. 

35. Prepare for a selfie: POSE. So many spend so much time...

36. Definitely not from around here: EXOTIC.

37. IMDb listing: ROLE.

38. Region spanning three continents: MIDEAST.

39. "Anne of Green Gables" setting: AVONLEA. I mentioned how much I enjoyed Anne with an E.

43. De-bunks?: ROUSTS. very witty, especially if you were a camp counselor and you had to get the little darlings up in the morning. The hyphen and the "?" give it away.

44. "Here Comes the Hotstepper" singer __ Kamoze: INI.

46. Get away from it all: ESCAPE.

47. Coats with goo: SLIMES. Nickelodeon and Ghostbusters both made slime famous. 

48. Gets lippy with: SASSES. No talking back!

50. Danica Patrick, for one: RACER. Now she is just a talker.

51. Fair: SUNNY. It's always sunny in Philadelphia.

55. Remote precursor: DIAL. Yep, you had to get up and turn the dial.

58. Cooking spray: PAM. I have mentioned before that PAM was introduced in 1961 by Leon Rubin who, with Arthur Meyerhoff, started Gibraltar Industries to market the spray. The name PAM is an acronym for Product of Arthur Meyerhoff.

59. Fury: IRE.

60. Blind stitch: HEM. So you do not see it.

As with many Fridays lately, this was not as challenging as some but still very entertaining. It also, absent divine intervention will be my final 2020 blog, but I will start off 2021. Have a very safe and happy rest of this year and holiday season. Lemonade out.

Thursday, December 17, 2020, Jim Holland

 

Good morning, once again, cruciverbalists.  As you may recall from C.C.'s note on last Thursday's blog, Bill (waseeley) and yours truly will now be writing the recaps on alternating Thursdays.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank Bill, and Boomer, for shouldering much of the past and future work load.

Theme:  Equivalency - Perhaps, E Equals M C Squared ? - Not

He was, justifiably, a difficult man to impress but, be that as it may, today's theme is quite clever if you're into sort-of-weird-word-play.  For this crowd, that, however, is pretty much a given.  Remember, also, that this puzzle comes from the person who played around with vowel sounds and morphed The Grateful Dead into The Grateful Dud, referred to the Detroit baseball team's salary structure as Pay Per Tiger and introduced us to the vocal styling of the Three Tanners.

At three locations within the puzzle, Jim has placed quantitative answers which, when taken together with the key word(s) in the clue, combine to form an equivalent name for a well-known object or place.

17. Equivalent Stanley award?: EIGHT OUNCES.  MM's first reaction was "What the"?  However, the light slowly dawned.  There are EIGHT OUNCES in a full measuring cup.  Combine CUP with STANLEY, et voila, we get Stanley Cup which is the National Hockey League's trophy awarded to the playoff champions.  STANLEY EIGHT OUNCES = STANLEY CUP   

Lord Stanley's Cup

39. Equivalent Scotland locale?: THIRTY SIX INCHES.  A yard is a measurement defined as being three feet, or THIRTY-SIX INCHES, long.  Make the substitution and we get SCOTLAND YARD which is the headquarters locale of the London Metropolitan Police.  SCOTLAND THIRTY SIX INCHES = SCOTLAND YARD  

61. Equivalent type of horse?: FIVE NICKELS.  A nickel is worth five cents.  FIVE NICKELS are worth a quarter of a dollar.  Following along the previous path we come upon a QUARTER HORSE which is a breed of horse named for its dominance in quarter-mile races. FIVE NICKELS HORSE = QUARTER HORSE   

...and now on to the rest of today's puzzle

Across:

1. "Vice" (2018) Oscar nominee Amy: ADAMS.  Right off the bat, a reference with which this solver was totally unfamiliar and a proper noun at that.  Thanks, Jim (sarcasm) or perhaps the editor.  Thanks, perps (not sarcasm).

6. Pairing: UNION.  Two weeks ago we had SCAB.  Today we have UNION.

11. __ water: TAP.  A fill-in-the-blank with many possible answers (e.g. Evian, mineral, hot, potable, soda, seltzer, heavy, etc.).  Fortunately, the three-letter constraint put a cap on the number of possibilities. 

14. Jazz pianist Chick: COREA.  This one was a gimme and, for what seems like the ten thousandth time, reconfirmed my love/hate relationship with proper nouns in crossword puzzles.

15. Fit provider: HONDA.  Misdirection.  Neither a personal trainer nor a tailor but, rather, an automobile.  The Honda Motor Company describes their Fit model as "a small car ready for big adventures."

The Honda Fit

16. Gulf st.: ALA.  ALAbama  The abbreviation for "state" tells us that the answer is also an abbreviation.  Sometimes "st." might stand for "street" or "saint" but in that case it is usually capitalized.  Of course, by convention, the first word of every clue is capitalized and some sly constructors play on that.

19. Storage unit: BIN.  This one felt a bit "off" in that a bin is not really a unit of anything.  In this case, the BIN, itself, is the unit.  Still, "I Love You a BIN and a Peck" is not a song from Guys and Dolls.

20. __-Caps: candy: SNO.

21. Memo opener: IN RE.  IN RE means "in regard to" or "in the matter of".  

22. Went up: SCALED.  SCALE has several different meanings.  Music.  Reptile skin.  A device for weighing.  But in this instance it is a mountain climbing, or a workplace, reference.

24. Produce: CREATE.

26. Venue that may sell naming rights: ARENA.  I wonder how this has worked out for the sponsors who each paid handsomely (estimated at $20 million  - $25 million per year) to have the new NFL ARENAs in Los Angeles and Las Vegas named for them.

27. Forward, in a way: RE-MAIL.  Not "to the front" or an NBA player or overstepping the boundaries of good taste.  Instead, it is another almost-made-up word formed by sticking RE in front of a verb.  I am sure that you were able to RE-solve this one.

30. Take different paths: PART.  

32. Cake decorators: ICERS.

33. "The Ra Expeditions" author Heyerdahl: THOR.   Appropriate for a Thursday, n'est ce pas?  While Heyerdahl successfully demonstrated that it was possible for a primitive raft to sail across the Pacific Ocean, DNA evidence now shows that his theory about Polynesian origins was incorrect.

35. MSN and AOL: ISPS.  Internet Service ProviderS

42. Japanese sandal: ZORI.  When I was just a kid, in the summer we wore those cheap synthetic sandals that bruised the space between your big toe and the adjacent toe.  We called them ZORIs but had no idea as to the origin of the word.

43. Not taxing: EASY.  This one was.

44. Cuban boy in 2000 headlines: ELIAN.  ELIAN Gonzalez was the subject of a much-publicized custody battle involving the governments of the United States and Cuba.  Public opinion was, as they say, highly polarized.

45. Thickener in Asian desserts: AGAR.  I always forget which one is the thickening agent (AGAR) and which one is the banned apple growth-regulator spray (Alar). 

47. They may be special or secret: AGENTS.

Secret Agent Man - Johnny Rivers - 1966 

48. Passionate dance: TANGO.  From the sort-of-sublime to the ridiculous (unless you're into this sort of thing) - Tom Lehrer's The Masochism Tango.  I am not sure when he wrote it but I first heard it on a album that was released in 1959.

The Masochism Tango 

51. Bouts: SPELLS.  Perhaps, as in fainting SPELLS.

54. Off-topic: AFIELD.  Originally, the expression "Far AFIELD" referred to physically coming from a long ways away.  Now the term is also applied in reference to scientific, intellectual, and other, pursuits.

56. Ohio border lake: ERIE.

Lake Erie

57. Anonymous party: DOE.   John DOE.  Jane DOE.  Sometimes ROE.

60. __ service: LIP.  Again, the three letters made it a bit easier.  Although it could have been TEA service it clearly was not going to be POSTAL service or FOREST service or ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET service.

64. Mound stat: ERA.  A baseball reference.  A pitcher's Earned Run Average is computed by multiplying the total number of earned runs that the pitcher has given up by nine and then dividing that product by the total number of innings pitched.

65. Long-stemmed mushrooms: ENOKI.   Know your mushrooms, campers, some are toxic...and some are psychoactive.

Enoki Mushrooms

66. Some South Pacific carvings: TIKIS.   TIKI bars/lounges were very popular in the 1930's - 1960's.  Some are still operating.

67. Court unit of at least six games: SET.  A tennis reference.

68. Search for water: DOWSE.  DOWSing is a type of divination employed in an attempt to find groundwater.   Despite some anecdotal reports of success, it has never been proven to work. 

69. "Mad Men" pool member: STENO.  According to Hollywood's take on the corporate culture of the 1950's, women started their careers in the STENO Pool or Secretarial Pool and men started in the mail room (no pun intended).

Down:

1. Blackjack cards: ACES.  If a player's first two cards are an ACE and a picture card or a ten, then the player has a "natural blackjack".

Blackjack

2. "Whatcha __?": DOIN.  The slanginess of the clue clues us into the fact that the answer will also be slangy.  Still, not the high point of this puzzle.

3. Cornstarch brand: ARGO.

4. Indifferent reaction: MEH.  MEH.

5. Stephen Colbert, for one: SATIRIST.  Not to be confused with a slightly dyslexic sitarist.

6. Enterprise officer: UHURA.  A Star Trek reference.  UHURA was the communications officer aboard the Starship Enterprise.

Lieutenant Nyota UHURA

7. Large chamber group: NONET.  The more or less standard instrumentation of a NONET is flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, violin, viola, cello and double bass.  If Jim had needed a leading M we would have seen Monet.

8. Fortune competitor: INC.  First, we have to figure out that FORTUNE is referring to a magazine and not a pile of money.  INC. is also the name of a business-focused magazine.

9. 2016 work by Pulitzer poet Sharon Olds: ODES.  I am not familiar with this poet.  Thanks, again, perps. 

10. Org. with a long track record?: NASCAR.  A clue meant to be taken quite literally.  The "ORG" tells us it will be an abbreviation and the "track record" bit steers us in the right direction.  National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing

11. Put on ice: TABLE.  We might think of cooling a beer or a soda but, nooooo.  Both the clue and answers are colloquialisms for delaying a decision.

12. Strange: ALIEN.

13. World Wildlife Fund logo animal: PANDA.

18. New law student: ONE L.  A first-year law school student is sometimes called a ONE L. 

23. Things, or written things: ARTICLES.  The thing is, this was a very well written clue.

24. Baby transport: CARRIAGE.  I always have trouble with that "extra" A.

25. Bond creator?: EPOXY.  More misdirection.  Re-misdirection?  Fortunately, neither Ian nor Fleming nor U.S. Treasury  was going to fit in the allotted space.

27. Big name in hotels and crackers: RITZ.  Should you elect to combine the two, it would be a good idea to tip the housekeeping staff generously if you leave crumbs all over the room.

Puttin' On The Ritz - Young Frankenstein

28. Lingering effect: ECHO.  One of the best-ever takes on ECHO is Stan Freberg's version of the Elvis classic Heartbreak Hotel.

29. Golda of Israel: MEIR.  Born in Kiev, and raised in Milwaukee, Golda Meir served as Prime Minister of Israel from 1969 to 1974.

31. MSNBC analyst Melber: ARI.  Another unfamiliar proper noun for this solver - probably because of my lack of cable/satellite television.

33. Romanov royals: TSARS.  A hundred years have passed and yet humans are still fascinated by the former Russian royal family.

34. Casual hellos: HIS.  Didn't we have a similar clue with the exact same answer last Friday?

36. __ guard: SHIN.  Another fill-in-the-blank clue.  Praetorian was not going to fit.

37. Fuel from a bog: PEAT.  This Marine mammal loves the qualities of PEATed Scotch Whisky and, even with flippers in lieu of hands, could write volumes on stills, malting barley, barrel aging, distilleries, etc.  Those of you who share this passion should feel free to email the Manatee.

38. Taxpayer IDs: SSNS.  Social Security NumberS

40. Pro vote: YEA.   Yes, although we always have to also consider that AYE might be the answer.

41. Pays no attention to: NEGLECTS.

46. Hit the links: GOLFED.  Several regular contributors here likely got this one in an instant.  Links became synonymous with GOLF because a links golf course is the oldest style of GOLF course.  Types of Golf Courses  This clue plays on the past tense/present tense duality of the verb - in this instance, "hit".  Bet, cut, fit, put, set, wed and hurt are other verbs that allow constructors to attempt to mislead us.

47. Others, to Ovid: ALII.  Et Al is the abbreviation not only for Et ALII (masculine plural) but also for Et Alia (neuter plural) and Et Aliae (feminine plural).

48. Grimm accounts: TALES.  A bit of playfulness with the double-m in the first word of the clue.  Always up for an MM (or an M&M) moment.

49. Pumped up: AFIRE.  I suppose it could be as in "She was AFIRE with enthusiasm."   Went through AMPED up and even FIRED up before getting this one.

50. Go after, puppy-style: NIP AT.

52. Sneaks a look: PEEKS.

53. Orange half of a "Sesame Street" duo: ERNIE.  There is still some debate as to whether or not Bert & ERNIE are a gay couple or if they are just best friends.  According to the writer, Mark Saltzman, they are a couple . . . and  writers can mold their characters into anything that they wish them to be.

Ernie & Bert

55. Purple pet in old cartoons: DINO.  The Flintstones' dog-like pet was a small dinosaur named DINO (dee no).  Not to be confused with one of these guys.

Dino Desi & Billy

57. Fake in the rink: DEKE.  In ice hockey, a DEKE is a move that causes an opposition player to move out of position.  The derivation is from decoy.

58. Lena of "The Reader": OLIN.  At least this proper noun has been seen several previous times and the actress is fairly well known.

59. Exxon, formerly: ESSO.  ESSO is the phonetic version of S. O. or Standard Oil.

62. Sacred promise: VOW.

63. Assembly-required boxful: KIT.  Also a young fox.  This fox was photographed a couple of years ago by yours truly roughly one hundred feet from where I composed this write-up.

------------------------------------------------------

__________________________________________

________________________________________

MM OUT 

Wednesday December 16, 2020 Brock Wilson

Theme: Happy Birthday! [Maybe?] Today might or might not be the birthday of the below identified composer.  Nobody really knows. In the theme, his name and some of his works or identified by either name or number.

17A. With 63-Across, musician born 12/16/1770: LUDWIG VAN.

63A . See 17-Across: BEETHOVEN.

Wikipedia

He was baptized on the 17th, so his birthday is assumed to be the 16th, but that is just a guess.  He could have been a week or a month earlier.  Anyway, later in life, he wrote some music. You can read more about him here.

39 D. 63-Across work: SYMPHONY. An elaborate musical composition for full orchestra, typically in four movements, at least one of which is traditionally in sonata form.

26 A. Nickname for a 63-Across 39-Down: CHORAL. Numerically, the 9th, and last.

 

Well, this set my write up back by 23 minutes, but it was time well spent.  Give it a listen if you have the time.  Schiller's poem is a hot, sappy mess, but I guess it works in the original German. And Beethoven's setting makes it truly heavenly.

40 A. Numerically, 63-Across' C-minor 39-Down: FIFTH.  Which gives us what is probably the most recognizable 4 note sequence in all of music.

50 A. Nickname for a 63-Across 39-Down: EROICA.  Numerically, the 3rd.

 

10 D. Nickname for a 63-Across 39-Down: PASTORAL.  Here is a Disneyfied excerpt.

 

Hi, gang.  Jazzbumpa here to conduct today's musical adventure.  Once upon a time, there was trombone themed puzzle, and by chance in landed on my blogging day.  This one is just about as fitting.  Beethoven was my introduction to what we call classical music, though he stood on the bridge between the classical and romantic periods.  Having him as my intro made it hard for me to appreciate the much simpler - and genuinely classical - music of his teacher Haydn.  But everything builds over time, and without Haydn and Mozart, there could have been no Beethoven.  Let's move on through this score, and hope there are no sour notes.

Across:

1. Quotable Yankee, familiarly: YOGI.  Berra [1925-1915] "When you come to a fork in the road, take it."

5. "Yikes!": JEEZ.  Oh, my!

9. Fencing blades: EPEES.  A narrow-bladed sword with a blunted tip.

14. Tarzan raisers: APES.  I guess Jane was the gorilla his dreams.

15. Cher and Sade, vocally: ALTI.  Voices with  range above tenor and below soprano.

16. 16th-century English queen: MARY I.  "Bloody Mary" Tudor [1516 -1558]  in her 5 year reign, she had over 280 religious dissenters burned at the stake. 

19. North Sea county: ESSEX.  Located north-east of London.

20. German steel city: ESSEN. Eight of the 100 largest publicly held German corporations are head-quartered there.

21. Offered an arm to: ESCORTED.  As into a formal event.

23. Basics: ABCS.  

25. Ming most look up to: YAO.  Because he is 7'6" tall.  He started his basketball career in Shanghai, China, then played for the Houston Rockets from 2002-2011. He was an 8-time all star.

29. Literate: WELL READ.  

34. __ Vegas: LAS.  Sin City, it's been called.

35. Marks for removal: DELES.  To be deleted.

37. "Inferno" poet: DANTE. From whom we get out modern, and at best only marginally Biblical concepts of hell and the devil.

38. Story lines: ARCS.  

42. Tolkien trilogy, to fans: LOTR.  Lord Of The Rings.

43. Remains: STAYS.

45. It's usually not a hit: SIDE-B.  Now here is some nostalgia - referring to the presumably less popular song on one side of a 45 RPM phonograph record.
 
47. Toon crime fighter __ Possible: KIM.  An American animated action comedy-adventure television series created by Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle for Disney Channel. The title character is a teenage girl tasked with fighting crime on a regular basis while coping with everyday issues commonly associated with adolescence.  It ran from 2002 to 2007, and was a favorite of our oldest granddaughter.

48. Spread throughout: PERMEATE.

52. Pipe plastic: PVC. PolyVinyl Chloride is the third most widely produced thermoplastic, after polyethylene and polypropylene.

53. Like cotton candy: SPUN.

54. Sticky stuff: ADHESIVE.  Glue

58. Facebook action: SHARE.

62. Unverified word: RUMOR.  A circulating story of uncertain or doubtful truth.

65. Tony winner Menzel: IDINA.  She originated the role of Elphaba Thropp in the Broadway musical Wicked in 2003.  Later she sang some songs in animated Disney movies.

 

 66. The M in BLT?: MAYO.   As an option.

67. Artist's quarters: LOFT.   An upper story or attic in a building, directly under the roof, presumably with north light..

 
68. Record material: VINYL.  Here, phonograph records and PVC make another appearance - together.

69. Chopped side dish: SLAW.  Cabbage fragments, typically with a 66 A- based dressing.

70. Some traffic court cases: Abbr.: DWIS.  Driving While Intoxicated.

Down:

1. New Haven school: YALE. Where the Elis roam.

2. Musical work: OPUS.  These are given numbers, approximately in the order of publication date. 40 A is Beethoven's OPUS 67.

3. H.S. proficiency tests: GEDS.  General Educational Development, indicating an approximate equivalence to a high school diploma.

4. Oath beginning: I SWEAR.  And you'd better tell the truth.

5. XK-E, for short: JAG.  The Jaguar E Class, Marketed in the U.S. as the XK-E, was manufactured from 1961 to 1975.

6. Seasonal aides: ELVES.  Santa's helpers, also known as subordinate clauses.

7. Greek vowels: ETAS.  Notable, because they look like h's.

8. It makes cents: ZINC.  Usually when mixed with copper.

9. Important gem in Oz: EMERALD.  I was thinking in Australia, which would be the OPEL.  But it doesn't have enough letters.  In the wonderful land of OZ, there is the EMERALD city.

11. Gaelic language: ERSE. A Scottish or Irish language.

12. Watched closely: EYED.  Peered at.

13. Touchdown points: SIX.  The kicked extra point used to be automatic, but many have been missed this season.

18. __ humor: grumpy: IN BAD.  Irascible.

22. Bony Olive: OYL.  Popeye's often disloyal girlfriend.

Wikipedia

24. Musical symbol: CLEF.

26. Bracelet fastener: CLASP.  Hook and lock mechanism.

27. Gold rush storyteller: HARTE.  Francis Brett HARTE [1836-1902]  was an American short story writer and poet, best remembered for his short fiction featuring miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush. 

28. "The Odd Couple" roommate: OSCAR. Madison and Felix Unger from the Neil Simon play and the resulting movie and TV series.

29. Group self-pic, in slang: WEFIE.  Everybody crowd in tight.

30. Started, as a co.: ESTD.  Established

31. Japanese mushroom: ENOKI.  Sounds like a minor Star Wars character.  But it is a  mushroom that naturally grows on the stumps of the Chinese hackberry tree (Celtis sinensis, "enoki" in Japanese) and on other trees, such as ash, mulberry and persimmon trees.

32. Web site: ATTIC.  Not the world wide web - the top floor of a house that seldom gets entered by a human.

33. Stuffed Jewish dish also called kishke: DERMA.  Make it here.

36. Itemize: LIST.   

41. Dickens sycophant: HEEP.   Uriah, a fictional character created by Charles Dickens in his 1850 novel David Copperfield. Heep is one of the main antagonists of the novel. His character is notable for his cloying humility, unctuousness, obsequiousness, and insincerity, making frequent references to his own "'umbleness". 

44. A few: SEVERAL.  Less than many.

46. Salon item: BRUSH.  

49. Summer coolers, briefly: ACS.  Air Conditioners, not cooling drinks.

51. Indefinitely suspended: ON HOLD.  In limbo.

53. "Later!": SEE YA.  TTYL.

54. Autobahn auto: AUDI.  Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer that designs, engineers, produces, markets and distributes luxury vehicles.  It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group.

55. Key of the 26-Across 39-Down: Abbr.: D-MINor.  Has one flat.  And should probably have been included with the theme entries.

56. System/360s, e.g.: IBMS.  Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Systems?  Nope. Just a family of mainframe computer systems from IBM that were delivered between 1965 and 1978.

57. Piccata meat: VEAL.  It is sliced, dredged in flour, browned, then served in a sauce containing lemon juice, butter, and capers.  Yum!

59. Openly declare: AVOW.  Or Aver.  Always needs perps.

60. Mortgagee's option, for short: REFInance.  Looking for a lower interest rate and/or monthly payments.

61. Laryngitis docs: ENTS.  Ear, Nose and Throat specialists.

62. Ohio or Mississippi: Abbr.: RIV.  River

64. Auto club service: TOW.  As, frx, when my transmission decided to stop transmitting 20 miles north of Muskegon, and 200 miles from home.  That was fun.

So we reach the coda of another Wednesday, melody complete and chords resolved.  And every day is somebody's birthday.  HBD, if it's yours.

Cool regards!

JzB