Monday August 2, 2021 Joe Schewe

Theme: NOTEWORTHY. (60. Distinguished ... and what 17-, 27- and 44-Across literally are?: NOTEWORTHY.

17A. Space-saving TV display: FLAT SCREEN.

27A. Deadeye: SHARP SHOOTER.

44A. Cotton, wool or silk: NATURAL FIBER.

Boomer here.  

Happy Monday everyone. As you read this, I am probably out on the golf course in 81 degree temperatures.  My sister came to town last week and wanted to play miniature Putt Putt golf so we went in 97 degree heat. C.C. bowed out a little early and I do not blame her.  I only managed 16 holes and I was toast.  But we had a good time.

Sherie, Bret, Connie, Boomer & C.C, 7/28/2021

 

Across:

1. Up to the task: ABLE.  Was this Cain's Brother?

5. Bounce off a wall: CAROM.  "It's a POOL table, don't you understand. Friend, either you are closing your eyes to a situation you do not wish to acknowledge or you are unaware of the Caliber of disaster indicated by a pool table in your community." Prof. Harold Hill.

10. __ 'n' roll: ROCK.  I am a ROCK, I am an Island.  Simon and Garfunkel.

14. Faucet brand: MOEN.

15. Goodnight woman of song: IRENE.  She was seen in many dreams.

16. Wrinkle remover: IRON.

19. Property measure: ACRE.  Also a bad tooth.

20. Mason of "The Goodbye Girl": MARSHA.

21A. Life in it is exciting but risky: FAST LANE.

23. Tax form ID: SSN.  It's a good thing to have.  I paid payments in for many years, now they are paying me back.

24. Do sum work: ADD.  "What did you learn in school today, dear little boys of mine?"  Ton Paxton.

26. Camp bed: COT.  We all had one of these in basic training.  I do not remember getting too much sleep on that hard thing.

33. Jokes around: JAPES.

36. Primp: PREEN.

37. 2001 boxing biopic: ALI.  I thought his name was Cassius Clay.

38. Eye creepily: OGLE.

39. Does some sous-chef work: CHOPS.  C.C. sometimes eats with CHOPS ticks.

40. Word after final or physical: EXAM.  I have passed them both, a long time ago.

41. "Roth" investment: IRA.  Sorry, talked about this last week.

42. Prohibition agent Ness: ELIOT.

43. Its State Crustacean is lobster: MAINE.  They are pretty good, but I do not prefer to pay the price.  Minnesota Walleye is just as good.  My opinion.

47. Neither's partner: NOR.

48. Old PC monitor: CRT.  I think this used to stand for Cathode Ray Tube.

49. Deep __: diving area: END.   That's a memory when we went swimming in Shady Oak Lake.

52. Watches kids for cash: BABYSITS.  My older sister did this.  I earned my money at the golf course caddying.

57. End opposite the pencil point: ERASER.  For people who make mistakes doing crosswords.

59. Longtime Hydrox rival: OREO.

62. Seven-foot NBAer Nowitzki: DIRK.  I am sure DIRK made more money than I did on the golf course, but I am glad that I am not 7 feet tall. 

63. Give the slip to: ELUDE.

64. Extra: MORE.

65. Barely beat: EDGE.  They used to sell Oldsmobiles in Hopkins at Town's EDGE Olds.

66. Opera hero, often: TENOR.  I was a Bass.  My High School Class reunion is coming up in August.  I wonder if they will want me to sing. The MTA.

67. On the __ of the moment: impulsively: SPUR.

Down:

1. Std. car radios: AM FMS.  I think I just have AM.  Sirius FM kept bugging me.  I guess they did not understand what "NO" means. 

2. Gauchos' weapons: BOLAS.

3. Memorize: LEARN.  "What did you EARN in school today, dear little boys of mine ??"  Tom Paxton again.

4. Tolkien tree creatures: ENTS.

5. Insect that may live for 17 years: CICADA.

6. LAX incoming abbr.: ARR.  C.C. and I have not been on a plane for almost two years.  We are still a little Covid shy.

7. Atoll barrier: REEF.

8. __ Day VitaCraves: ONE A.

9. Good people, from the Yiddish: MENSCHES.  I am thinking the organist at Target Field is a MENSCH.  She plays "Hava Nagila"  a lot between innings.

10. Venetian market: RIALTO.  I think we used to have movie theatres with that name.

11. Killer whale: ORCA.

12. Kerneled veggie: CORN. Our CORN grows as high as an elephants eye.  We drive by a couple of corn fields on the way to grocery stores and I am really surprised by the field because we have had      90 + degree weather for the last 6 weeks. 

13. Commonly replaced joint: KNEE.  I don't know about KNEES, but I know of a few local beer joints that have been replaced.

18. Persian potentates: SHAHS.

22. Donald or Daffy Duck: TOON.

25. TV advice show co-created by Oprah: DR PHIL.  I have never taken advice from the TV, sorry.

27. "Savvy?": SEE.

28. DA's burden: PROOF.  If it's 80, I think it's Vodka.

29. Type of tank: SEPTIC.  I know what this is, I am glad we do not have one.  we pay for city water and services.

30. City curbside call: TAXI.  We do not need one of these either.

31. Distinctive style: ELAN.

32. "The __ of the Ancient Mariner": RIME.

33. Become a member: JOIN.  Once I coached a Little League team that was sponsored by a local Elks Lodge.  I only went there a few times.  They had pull tabs.

34. Taj Mahal city: AGRA.

35. Surveyor's map: PLAT.

39. Benny Goodman's "licorice stick": CLARINET.

40. 12-Down unit: EAR.  Pick it and peel it.

42. Greek Cupid: EROS.

43. MGM's first "M": METRO.  Goldwyn Mayer.

45. Disconnect, as oxen: UNYOKE.

46. Milwaukee MLBer: BREWER.  C.C. and I went to Miller Park quite a few years ago.  Of course it was a Twins game and A.J. Pierzinski hit a home run.  The Brewers won, I don't remember the score.

49. Bar, in court: ESTOP.

50. India's first prime minister: NEHRU.  He has a collar named after him.

51. Washer's partner: DRYER.  We got a new washer last year.  Now our dryer is jealous.

52. Foreshadow: BODE.

53. Dry as a bone: ARID.  It was awful last Wednesday.  Now it seems that the heat is history.

54. Shipping hazard: BERG.  I cannot imagine that there are any icebergs in shipping lanes this time of year.

55. Tin-painting art: TOLE.

56. Daze: STUN.

58. Refs raise them to signal a successful field goal: ARMS.  Also a Touchdown.

61. Tokyo, formerly: EDO.  I took a look at the Olympic golf.  I am not too interested in all the sports that I never did and cannot do.

Boomer

Sunday August 1, 2021 Paul Coulter

Theme: "Color Coordinated" - The left side of each theme entry is a common phrase with a color in it. The right side is another meaning of the phrase.

22. One of a West Coast trio: BLUE STATE. And  24. 22-Across, emotionally: MELANCHOLY.

36. Lover with ulterior motives: GOLD DIGGER. And 39. 36-Across, in the Old West: FORTY-NINER.

52. Street warning: YELLOW LIGHT. And 56. 52-Across, from the sky: SUNBEAM.

74. Lucille Ball, e.g.: RED HEAD. And 76. 74-Across, in the Cold War: FIDEL CASTRO.

 90. Big name in frozen food: GREEN GIANT. And  93. 90-Across, in the forest: DOUGLAS FIR.

106. Presidential address: WHITE HOUSE. And 108. 106-Across, at a winter carnival: ICE PALACE.

Really enjoyed this puzzle. We've seen "Blue state?" as a clue for MELANCHOLY in the past. Or "Gold diggers?" for FORTY-NINERS. Never thought of an extra color layer for a theme. Cute.

We have 114 theme squares, higher than our average. Paul also had to deal with 12 entries without much flexibility to shift them around due to the side by side constrict.

Across:

1. Show of affection: KISS.

5. Hat-tipper's word: MA'AM.

9. Implied: TACIT. Not MEANT.

14. Spa sigh: AAH.

17. Shine: GLOW. Our Minnesota girl Sunisa Lee. More chance for gold next week.

18. Mallorca o Menorca: ISLA.

19. "It matters to me": I CARE.

20. Barrie's "man who stabbed without offence": SMEE.  "Peter Pan".

26. Split to unite: ELOPE.

27. Yoda trainees: JEDIS. The plural of Jedi is still Jedi.

28. Subway gates: STILES.

30. Jabbers: PRATES.

33. Unwise, as a choice: BAD.

34. __-Caps: SNO.

35. NFL brother of Peyton: ELI. Here they are.

43. Accomplished: ABLE.

44. Agra attire: SARIS.

45. Blunted blade: EPEE.

46. Makes sense: FITS.

47. Exhausted: BEAT.

49. PC-to-PC hookup: LAN. Local Area Network.

50. Self-Operating Napkin creator Goldberg: RUBE.

51. 1987 Costner role: NESS.  "The Untouchables".

58. "... __ the set of sun": "Macbeth": ERE.

59. Subatomic particle: PION. MUON too.

60. Big-eyed tyke: OWLET.

62. GHWB predecessor: RWR. Ronald Wilson Reagan. Not a common  monogram.

63. Syracuse locale: Abbr.: NYS. New York State.

64. RR map dot: STN.

65. High winds: OBOES.

66. Kind of sauce or milk: SOY. Always have upset stomach when I have the reformulated Silk Soy Milk now.

67. Stat on a dealer's sticker: MPG.

70. Photo: PIC.

71. Sing like Dean Martin: CROON.

72. Bang-up: A ONE.

73. Retract, as one's words: EAT.

79. Phony (up): HOKE. Not a word I use.

80. PG-13 issuing org.: MPAA. Motion Picture Association of America.

82. Maracanã Stadium city: RIO. Maracanã Stadium  hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Rio  Olympics.

83. HR dept. concern: RE-LO.

84. "Othello" villain: IAGO.

85. Seed coat: ARIL.

86. Blessings: BOONS.

88. Turturro of "The Sopranos": AIDA. Don't know her. But love the new clue angle or AIDA.

95. "Catch-22" pilot: ORR. Learned from doing crosswords.

96. Annex: ELL.

97. Misunderstanding metaphor: GAP.

98. Online payment option: E CHECK.

99. Spin: ROTATE.

101. Indeed: TRULY.

104. Mountain ridge: ARETE. Like this.

112. "Smooth Operator" singer: SADE.  What's your favorite Sade song? Mine is "Somebody Already Broke My Heart".

113. Island nation east of Fiji: TONGA.

114. Lead-in to second: NANO.

115. Four-legged "king": LION.

116. "Chopped" host Allen: TED.

117. Anger: STEAM.

118. Belmonts lead singer: DION. Dion and the Belmonts.

119. EPA concern: SMOG. Bad air in our area the past few days. Wildfire smoke from Canada. Lots of active fires in Ontario and Manitoba.

Down:

1. Old USSR espionage gp.: KGB. Dissolved in 1991.

2. Unfavorable, as wind: ILL.

3. Paltry amount: SOU.

4. "That's a terrific price": SWEET DEAL. Great fill.

5. Dividing-cell process: MITOSIS. New word to me.

6. "By yesterday!": ASAP.

7. Der __: Adenauer epithet: ALTE. German for "old".

8. Sassy West: MAE.

9. Like major sports games except baseball: TIMED. Baseball is so slow.

10. Nailed: ACED.

11. Colombian city: CALI. Chickie and her husband Bill used to live in Cali.

12. Srs.' income sources: IRAS.

13. Highest Scrabble letter value: TEN. What's your score? My full name Zhouqin Burnikel scores 42 for me. It's also a grid-spanner.

14. Kutcher of "That '70s Show": ASHTON.

15. Paris possessive: A MOI.

16. Neoclassical movement based on Greek ideals: HELLENISM. Greece's official name is Hellenic Republic.

21. Lace securers: EYELETS.

23. Snow coaster: SLED.

25. "Teach Your Children" group, initially: CSNY. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

27. Frazzles: JARS.

29. Connery and McCartney: SIRS.

30. Tour-organizing gp.: PGA.

31. Highway event?: ROBBERY. Highway robbery.

32. Genetic variations: ALLELES. We had this before.

33. Existence: BEING.

34. Dutch Golden Age artist: STEEN. Jan. Here's his "Skittle Players Outside an Inn".

37. Unit of volume: GALLON.

38. Silo contents: GRAIN.

39. Backin': FER.

40. Numbered works: OPUSES.

41. Confute: REBUT.

42. Words preceding bad news: I FEAR.

48. On the open deck: TOPSIDE.

51. Countdown follower: NEW YEAR.

52. Desire: YEN.

53. Narnia antagonist: WITCH.

54. Large shoulder bag: HOBO. Pretty in red.

55. "Just the __ Us": 1981 and 1998 hit: TWO OF.

57. Rodeo challenge: BRONC.

61. Director Riefenstahl: LENI.

65. Decree: ORDAIN.

66. "Bye now": SO LONG.

67. Insurance company with a longtime Peanuts-based ad campaign: METLIFE.

68. Like Weird Al songs: PARODIC.

69. "Little" car of song: GTO.

70. Orange __ tea: PEKOE.

71. "Meet John Doe" director: CAPRA (Frank)

72. Facetious five?: A E I O U. Just the letters in "Facetious".

74. "Agreed": ROGER THAT.

75. In-box contents: EMAIL. All your comments go to my Gmail.

77. Sag: DROOP.

78. Tongue twister merchandise: SEASHELLS.

79. Soil-smoothing tools: HARROWS.

81. PC shortcut key: ALT.

86. Party time, casually: B-DAY.  Hello, Trubrit, are you still reading our blog? Happy birthday to you!

84. Borodin's "Prince __": IGOR.

87. Think about: SLEEP ON.

89. Ancient couples carrier: ARK.

91. Made after taxes: NETTED.

92. TV show with mashups: GLEE. Seems like ages ago.

94. Official records: ACTA.

97. Flash of light: GLEAM.

100. Adjutant: AIDE.

101. Barfly's binge: TOOT.

102. Old character: RUNE.

103. Org. with an annual open tournament: USGA. No US Open in Minnesota since 1991. We did attend Women's US Open though.

104. Trendy berry: ACAI.

105. Nevada slots spot: RENO.

107. Town name word suggesting higher elev.: HTS. Heights.

108. Ky. neighbor: IND.

109. Draw a bead on: AIM.

110. Bit of baby talk: COO.

111. Coll. major: ENG.

C.C.

Saturday, July 31, 2021, Craig Stowe

 Themeless Saturday Puzzle by Craig Stowe

Our Torontonian friend gives us another puzzle from north of the border whose main feature is his pinwheel stacks of nine which were very helpful. Here are Craig's gracious comments:

Hi Gary,

Thanks for getting in touch.  I've been trying for ages to fit LAVAZZA into a grid because it seems so crossword worthy, but I could never make it work.  I decided to start with it as the main entry instead and work out from there.  I'm not actually a huge LAVAZZA fan, though it's good. The grind we get here is too small for my French press.  I get my beans from a Canadian company called Kicking Horse.  I suspect LAVAZZA will be a little more familiar to folks.

I really wanted to say thank you to Rich and his team as well as to this blog for everything you do.  This is about my 50th puzzle with the LA Times and it's not by accident that most of my publications are with this venue.  I cannot stress enough to new and aspiring constructors how wonderful Rich is to work with.  If he likes the general feel of a puzzle he will do what he can to make it happen.  That is an amazing trait for any editor to have and it really helped me get to where I am today.  The insightful commentaries made by the bloggers and regulars helped shape the styling of my puzzles over these past five or six years.  I could go on but I'm starting to embarrass myself.

Sorry about having two affixes in a themeless, I originally had EPI- but a revision in the NE corner led to the inevitable -ETTE.  Never having been pregnant, I thought ANTENATAL and prenatal were interchangeable but some of you may disagree.

Cheers!

Craig

Across:

1. Entertainment genre with a French name of uncertain origin: VAUDEVILLE - Origin of the word of the word. Early TV was heavily populated with former VAUDEVILLE stars

11. Wicked biblical king: AHAB.

15. "There's no point": IT'S USELESS 

16. Kiwi plant: VINE.

17. Biloxi or Gulfport: COUNTY SEAT - These two cities are both COUNTY SEATS of Harrison County, MS. There are ten such counties in MS with two COUNTY SEATS. What?

18. Suffix akin to -ule: ETTE - Buzz and Neal landed on the Moon in the small Lunar Module but I doubt it had a real kitchenETTE

19. Persona: IMAGE.

20. Johnny Cash's "At Folsom Prison" was recorded in one: STATE PEN.

22. Makes smooth and shiny, as hair: SLEEKS.

25. Voiced, in phonetics: SONANT - I'm always happy to learn

26. Heartland of America Park city: OMAHA - It is currently undergoing a multi-million dollar renovation down by the Missouri River

28. Emmy-winning journalist O'Donnell: NORAH.

29. Not at all fatty: LEAN.

32. Weave: ZIGZAG.

35. Downed: ATE.

36. "So __ heard": I'VE.

37. Longtime Italian coffee brand: LAVAZZA - Craig finally got this coffee into a puzzle! More info 

38. __ es Salaam: DAR.

39. Flooey lead-in: KER.

40. Unmoved: IN SITU - NASA repaired the Hubble Space Telescope IN SITU rather than bring it back to Earth.

41. Remove: DELE.

42. Gay leader?: ENOLA - Col. Paul Tibbets picked the B-29 he wanted off the assembly line in OMAHA where it was made. He then named that plane after his mother and flew it on that historic mission on August 6, 1945.

44. From Trondheim, e.g.: NORSE - The adjective NORSE refers to Norwegians or Scandinavians

46. Disclose: IMPART.

48. Was barely heard: PEEPED.

51. Viral oral malady: COLD SORE - Provide your own visual 😟

54. Comedian Kemper: ELLIE - Her IMDB. 

56. Fastidious to a fault: ANAL - All currency in my billfold must be arranged in ascending order with the faces all in the same orientation. ANAL? 

57. Check things out: POKE AROUND.

60. Russo of "Velvet Buzzsaw": RENE - Sometimes audiences like movies way more than the critics and sometimes...

61. Guided: SHEPHERDED - Successful coaches are sometimes said to have SHEPHERDED teams to championships

62. Saw: EYED.

63. "You betcha!": YES INDEEDY.

Down:

1. Caesarean section?: VICI - Bill Murray's variation on Caesar's proclamation of Veni, VICI, Vidi

2. They make up everything: ATOMS - Fun cluing

3. Prevailing: USUAL.

4. "The Pit and the Pendulum" setting: DUNGEON.

5. Appreciation: ESTEEM.

6. "Oy __!": VEY - Yiddish for "Woe is me!"

7. They, to Thierry: ILS - If Sonny and Cher sang I Got You Babe in French, it would start,  "ILS disent que nous sommes jeunes et nous ne savons pas"  ("They say we're young and we don't know")

8. Wranglers' cousin: LEES.

9. 180 is its max. score: LSAT.

10. Spanish pronoun: ESTAS - Elvis would have sang: ¿ESTÁS sola esta noche? ("Are you lonesome tonight?)

11. Brand with a Positively Radiant line: AVEENO.

12. Ranked musical listing: HIT PARADE - Take as big a bite out of this 65-yr-old trip down memory lane that you like...

13. Like care during pregnancy: ANTENATAL - A synonym for PRENATAL

14. "I can relate": BEEN THERE.

21. Pacific archipelago: TONGA - 170 islands with white sand beaches that are mostly unoccupied 

23. "Death of a Salesman" Tony winner: KAZAN - Arthur Miller's words and Lee J. Cobb's acting in 1949 probably helped Elia get a Tony for directing 

24. Makeshift blades: SHIVS.

27. On-__, off-__: AGAIN - Sounds like government mask policies 

29. "Whatevs": LIKE I CARE - This slang for "Whatever" begs the question: How did "I could care less" come to mean the same as " I couldn't care less"

30. Toss-up: EVEN MONEY - Equally likely

31. Heathrow lander: AEROPLANE - When in Britain, spell as the British spell

33. Trio with notable beards: ZZ TOP - Bassist Dusty Hill ( left below) died this week at 72 years old.

34. Fair color?: AZURE - With apologies to Irving Berlin: "AZURE skies smilin' at me, nothin' but AZURE skies do I see:".

37. Inventors of a sort: LIARS - Clever!

41. Lament: DEPLORE.

43. Dished up: LADLED.

45. Blow a fuse: SEE RED - Two words

47. Meryl's "Mary Poppins Returns" role: TOPSY - I remember TOPSY as a character in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin.

49. Duck: ELUDE.

50. Enjoyed a bistro: DINED.

52. Architect Mies van der __: ROHE.

53. Just makes, with "out": EKES.

55. Go around in circles?: EDDY - "Hey, Gary, didn't you use this picture in your write-up last week as well?" "Uh, yes, ya caught me!"

58. It may be left of center: EPI - Meta clues can be really tricky

59. "Kung Fu" actor Philip: AHN 

Philip AHN and David Carradine