Sunday August 8, 2021 Bryant White

Theme: "Split Decisions" - Each of the 8 animals is cracked by a black square in this grid. See this.

28A. *Wine ingredient?: LONG I. Just the letter i in Wine. And 29A. *Sarah of "Suits": RAFFERTY. Giraffe.

49A. *Slip through the cracks: OOZE. And 50A. *Traffic stoppers: BRAKES. Zebra.

86A. *Take by force: HIJACK. And 88A. *"A Clockwork Orange" antihero: ALEX. Jackal.

104A. *Closely match: PARALLEL.And 109A. *Aconcagua's range: ANDES. Eland.

11D. *Biblical possessive: THY. And 33D. *Put on the books: ENACT. Hyena.

20D. *Gene variant: ALLELE. And 56D. *Ghost: PHANTASM. Elephant.

38D. *Norse mythology battle used as the subtitle of a 2017 "Thor" film: RAGNAROK. And 92. *Place abuzz with activity: APIARY. Okapi.

80D. *Dangerous strain: E COLI. And 116. *It's next to nothing: ONE. Lion.

Reveal:

66A. Product with lots of shapes ... or what each of four black squares effectively is?: ANIMAL CRACKER. This intersects two more theme entries.

Incredible concept, so brilliantly executed. All theme entries are symmetrically placed.

Guys, I'm speechless. I can't imagine the amount of work designing and filling this grid.

Across:

1. Race distance: MILE.

5. Shrink: ANALYST.
 
12. Traditional koa wood product: UKULELE. "Somewhere Over The Rainbow". Israel Kamakawiwoʻole.

19. "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" author Loos: ANITA. And 38. Diamonds, in slang: ROCKS. "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend".

21. Unworthy of: BENEATH.

22. Started up again: RESUMED.

23. __ officer: NAVAL. So cool!

Spitzboov

24. Bishopric cousin: CANONRY. I only know canon.

25. Like aftershave after a shave: BRACING.

26. 1994 A.L. batting champ Paul: O'NEILL. Yankees' color commentator.

30. Pigment used in rustproof primer paints: RED LEAD.

32. Blood lines: VEINS.

34. Bananas or nuts: LOONY. Crackers too.

37. Monetary "p": PENCE.

43. Rib-tickler: JOKE.

46. Oval-shaped wind: OCARINA. We also have 116. They're seen among the reeds: OBOISTS.

48. Benefit: AVAIL.

51. Junk bond rating: CCC.

54. Yitzhak's predecessor: GOLDA (Meir)

55. Allegro non __: fast, but not too fast: TROPPO. New to me.

57. Umbrella component: RIB.

58. Problematic to the max: THORNIEST.

60. Gas pump fractions: TENTHS.

61. Fermented honey drink: MEAD. Never had it, you? I don't know why people would want to ferment sweet honey.

64. Mountain nymph: OREAD.

65. World Cup "Way to go!": OLE.

70. Poli-__: SCI.

73. Absinthe flavoring: ANISE.

74. A-line line: SEAM.

75. Bench warmer?: BOTTOM. Ha.

77. Stone set alone: SOLITAIRE.

81. Basic card game: WAR.

83. 1994 Olympic gold medalist skater Baiul: OKSANA.

84. __ donna: PRIMA.

85. Triple __: liqueur: SEC.

89. Keys: ISLES.

90. South American river with a crocodile namesake: ORINOCO. I know this from Enya's "Orinoco Flow".  Looks docile.

92. Clumsy boats: ARKS.

93. Tribal emblem: TOTEM.

94. Minty cocktail: JULEP.

96. Gun: REV UP.

98. Daredevil's stock-in-trade: PERIL.

99. Put out: EMITTED.

114. Conditionally let out: PAROLE.

115. Winning game after game: ON A TEAR.

118. Samurai lacking a master: RONIN.  Japanese for "wanderer" . Same in Chinese. The character on top just means "wondering", the second means "person".

119. Go back over: RETRACE.

120. Superheroes always have them: NEMESES.

121. They come with strings attached: YO-YOS.

122. Fine-tuned: TWEAKED.

123. Krypton, but not Tatooine: ELEMENT. Tatooine is the desert planet in "Star Wars".

124. Canapé spread: PATE.

Down:

1. Bruce Wayne lives in one: MANOR.

2. Pointless: INANE.

3. Stayed: LIVED.

4. Business for many Amazon explorers?: E-TAIL. Fun clue. Thank God for Amazon these days.

5. Agatha Christie's "The __ Murders": ABC.

6. "The Day the Earth Stood Still" actress Patricia: NEAL.

7. Part of A.D.: ANNO.

8. Musician Redbone: LEON.

9. Half the taijitu symbol: YANG. Taiji is how "tai chi" spelled in China. Tu just means "picture".

10. Tried hard: STRIVEN.

12. Polished: URBANE.

13. Grooves made by a saw: KERFS. D-Otto might know this term. Not me.

14. Sky-high gp.: USAF.

15. Time co-founder: LUCE. Henry R. Luce.

16. Mideast leader: EMIR.

17. Fast time: LENT.

18. On pins and needles: EDGY.

27. Vientiane native: LAO.

29. Ocasek of the Cars: RIC. Just had him last Sunday.

31. Means of access: DOOR.

35. Elon University st.: N CAR. 112. "__ quam videri": 35-Down motto: ESSE.

36. Washington city where Olympic skiers Phil and Steve Mahre were born: YAKIMA.

37. Circle ratios: PIs.

39. Egg-shaped: OVOID.

40. Racer Yarborough: CALE.

41. Roasts, in a way: KIDS.

42. Blind segment: SLAT.

43. Brando role in 1978's "Superman": JOREL. Brando played Superman's father.

44. Critical layer: OZONE.

45. Fulfilled: KEPT.

47. Defies authority: REBELS.

49. Ringling Brothers brother: OTTO. No idea. Read more here. He died in 1911.

50. Half a Balkan country: BOSNIA.

52. Prefix with -aholic: CHOC.

53. Magnum stopper: CORK.

59. Boston-based sportswear giant: REEBOK.

62. Hotshot: ACE.

63. Attract: DRAW IN.

67. Goddess with a throne headdress: ISIS.

68. Insignificant: MERE.

69. Key of Schubert's "Trout Quintet": A MAJOR.

70. Cornfield sight: STALK.

71. Sundae alternatives: CONES.

72. Big name in movies?: IMAX.

73. Mann of 'Til Tuesday: AIMEE.

76. Winter Palace resident: TSAR. Winter Palace is now part of the Hermitage Museum.

77. Roasting rod: SPIT. In Xi'an's night market, you'll always find these lamb skewers. Cumin-heavy. Most from Muslim-vendors. Xi'an has a large Muslim population. Hahtoolah visited the Muslim Quarters a while ago. Muslims are called Uyghurs in Xi'an.

78. Rounding phrase: OR SO.

79. Merry-go-round tune: LILT.

82. Derby, perhaps: RACE.

86. Cool: HIP.

87. Anchorage for a galleon: COVE.

91. Mark down, maybe: RE-LABEL.

94. Sent raspberries to?: JEERED. Blowing a raspberry.

95. Text letters often in blue: URL. See our Blog Photos.

97. Diamond pro: UMP.

98. Location: PLACE.

100. Body with arms?: TROOP. Not our body.

101. 1994 rival of Nancy: TONYA.

102. "The Cocktail Party" playwright: ELIOT (T.S.)

103. Fog modifier: DENSE.

104. Red dessert wine: PORT.

105. From square one: ANEW.

106. Appraise: RATE.

107. Cutting-edge brand?: ATRA. Good old clue.

108. Security problem: LEAK.

110. Iditarod terminus: NOME.

111. Carpe __: DIEM.

113. WWII weapon: STEN. According to Wiki: STEN is an acronym, from the names of the weapon's chief designers, Major Reginald V. Shepherd and Harold Turpin, and EN for the Enfield factory.

117. JFK arrival, once: SST.

C.C.

Saturday, August 7, 2021, Brian E. Paquin

 Saturday Themeless by Brian E. Paquin 

Two weeks in a row with a Canadian constructor. Last week it was Craig Stowe and today it is Brian Paquin, who lives on the north shores of Lake Ontario in Kingston, Ontario. Here are Brian's very interesting comments about this puzzle:

Hi Gary,

Nice to hear from you again!  I hope that all is well.

I was kind of sloppy with this puzzle, and only 15 of my clues survived unchanged (some others were close).

I might have fallen into the trap of thinking that since a lot of clues are changed anyway, I wouldn't put so much effort into them.  Of course, that results in more clues being changed.

Also, I had submitted 10D as ALOT, but that duplicates 29D LOTSIZE.  Missed that one!

On the subject of duplication: the revised clue for 1A BOP is "Jazz genre".  I would have thought that that would duplicate the JAZZ part of 43A.  That's OK with me though:  I think that concerns about duplication are overdone to the point of obsession.

I often include a lot of proper names, but there are 6 more of them than I submitted.  For example, I clued 4A BEAKER as a thing, and 26A NOR as a word.  And a reworking of the S/E corner added some.  I think that Rich must be an even bigger fan of proper names than I am, which is also OK with me.  I hope that it sits well with solvers!

Brian

Across:

1. Jazz genre: BOP - My grandson Parker's namesake

4. Muppet assistant of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew: BEAKER - Not the lab glassware Brian submitted 

10. About: AS TO.

14. Award-winning sportswriter Berkow: IRA 

15. Words often following "head over heels": IN LOVE - I'll bet you can find it below:

16. Pub order: BEER.

17. Negroni component: GIN.

18. Asian island capital: TAIPEI - Every red symbol below is a McDonalds in Taipei (Population 2.6M)

19. Bowie's bride: IMAN - Singer David Bowie and his model wife IMAN. My first thought was of the veteran of The Alamo Jim Bowie who was married to Ursula Maria de Veramendi. Yeah, I knew that! 😁

20. Has another look at: RECHECKS - What we bloggers do over and over

22. Spot: NOTICE, I've heard a lot of reasons why the lookouts didn't NOTICE the 28. Arctic hazards: BERGS - The most famous BERG in history

24. Too quickly: IN HASTE.

25. Cone producer: FIR.

26. Rus. neighbor: NOR.

27. Early muscle cars: GTO'S - Pontiac's entry into this genre

28. Indolent: BONE-LAZY - Or LAZY BONES or BONE-IDLE

30. One-time renown: FORMER GLORY - Norma Desmond's renown was far behind her and there would be no more 57. Movie parts: SCENES with close-ups fo Mr. DeMille

34. Some street performers: MIME ARTISTS - or not

35. Causes of color blindness: MUTANT GENES - Color blindness in men is around 8% and in women is around .4%

36. Unpleasant digs: POTSHOTS - Don Rickles made a living doing these but would not be able to today

37. "I hate the Moor" speaker: IAGO

41. Balderdash: ROT.

42. Bygone greeting: AVE.

43. Top 10 Carole King song of 1974: JAZZMAN - Featuring the instrument Charlie Parker was famous for

46. Onetime Texas home of both Bushes: ODESSA.

48. Creek traveler: CANOEIST.

49. Catalan surrealist: MIRO - The obvious name for this work is El Sol (The Sun)

50. Neckwear accessory: TIE PIN.

52. Printer resolution spec.: DPI.

53. Made a case: PLED

54. Protect, as a museum exhibit: ENCASE - Buzz, Michael and Neil peruse an ENCASED Moon Rock they brought back on Apollo 11

55. Frodo's sidekick: SAM.

56. Banks on a runway: TYRA.

58. Green Day drummer __ Cool: TRE. - His IMDB

Down:

1. Many a semi: BIG RIG - Driven by concrete cowboys

2. Acquaint: ORIENT.

3. Mexican Villa: PANCHO - Blackjack Pershing chased PANCHO until WWI called him away

4. Quick meals: BITES.

5. Legally establish: ENACT.

6. Similar: ALIKE.

7. "Keystone" klutzes: KOPS.

8. Time to start celebrating, maybe: EVE.

9. Bringing under control: REINING IN - Government spending?

10. -ish: A BIT.

11. Advanced study groups: SEMINARS.

12. Pot cover: TEA COZY - Not a cooking pot or a big belly

13. Cantankerous: ORNERY.

21. Wigs out: HAS FITS.

23. "... and you know what happens if you don't!": OR ELSE.

25. Score direction: FORTE.

29. Home buyer's concern: LOT SIZE.

31. Midwestern natives: OMAHAS - During my Legion Baseball days, we would always travel an hour north to play in Macy, NE during the OMAHA Tribal Pow-Wow 

32. Overhauls: RENOVATES.

33. Lacking in luster: MATTE.

34. One speaking indistinctly: MUTTERER - One of my first bosses was a MUTTERER and delighted in yelling at us kids when we asked him to repeat what he said

35. How teens often act up: MOODILY - I have been 38. In the thick of: AMIDST teens for over 50 years and have seen this only occasionally. 😆

36. Cue: PROMPT - Antony's cue

39. One of the Magi: GASPAR  - "We really don’t know the names of the Magi because the Bible doesn’t tell us. In fact, the Bible is silent on how many wise men visited Jesus. However, tradition has it that the three wise men who came to seek and honor the infant Jesus were named GASPAR (or Caspar or Jaspar), Balthasar, and Melchior." You're welcome.

40. Flight board status: ON TIME.

43. Kyoto's country: JAPAN - In 1868 the capital of JAPAN was moved from Kyoto to Edo (which was renamed Tokyo)

44. Sambuca flavoring: ANISE Sambuca is a colourless liqueur made from anise and has its origin in Italy. The liqueur contains distillates of green anise and star anise. Sambuca has high sugar content (350 g/litre) and an alcohol content of 38 percent by volume

45. Partitions: ZONES - We live in ZONE 5 which limits plants we can use

47. Ice cream treat: SODA.

48. "Finally" singer Peniston: CECE.

51. Co. follower, perhaps: INC.

 

Friday August 6, 2021 Jerry Edelstein

Theme: You'll find out! 

Chairman Moe is off vacationing, so d-o has been called up from the minors to see what sort of havoc he can wreak in C-Moe's absence. Jerry Edelstein is a veteran of the crossword stage, having made numerous appearances over the years in the LAT and here at the Corner. Today's he's offered up a letter-swap theme with the reveal FIND OUT. Hint, you need to parse it as "F in, D out." I like well-executed themes that even I can suss. 

17. One teaching tchotchke-making?: FRILL INSTRUCTOR. Drill Instructor

37. Overly blunt?: FRANK TO EXCESS. Drank to excess. I've been accused of both.

58. Missives warning about '30s gangster Dillinger?: FEAR JOHN LETTERS. Dear John Letter. And finally, the reveal...

66. Learn ... and, in four parts, a hint to 17-, 37-, and 58-across: FIND OUT.

Across:

1. Intolerant: BIGOTED. Shades of Archie Bunker.

 

8. Thaw: DEFROST.

15. Like some egos: FRAGILE. Here's a handy list of negative ways to describe a person.

16. He won his only Oscar at age 73 for "City Slickers": PALANCE. He made a memorable Oscar appearance. (19 seconds)

19. John Paul's successor: ELENA. Supreme Court, not the Vatican.

20. Kit __: chocolate wafers: KATS. In my ute they were made by Rowntrees of York under special license from the Queen. 

21. 12th-century yr.: MCI. That'd be 1101 AD. Also a one-time telecom.

24. Workout ctrs.: YMCAS.

28. "Sprechen __ Deutsch?": SIE. Do you speak German?

29. Like uncooperative hair: TANGLY. Mine is uncooperative, but not tangly -- just cowlicky.

33. SeaTac-based airline: ALASKA. Seems weird that Alaska Airlines would be based in Washington.

35. Women's rights attorney Allred: GLORIA. Unknown to me, but the perps were kind.

36. Exhausted: SPENT.

41. Polynesian symbols: TIKIS. Totems was too long.

42. "That's old news": I HEARD.

44. More than brushed back: BEANED. Baseball.

46. B-52 mission: SORTIE. Back in the '60s we would see the B-52s every day, heading west from Andersen AFB, loaded with 500-pounders.

47. __ mot: BON. Good one, I say.

48. Actress Garson: GREER. English actress and M-G-M star. The name's familiar, but I couldn't pick her out of a lineup, nor name a film she was in.

 

51. Dashed no.: SSN.

52. Beauty store chain: ULTA. If you say so.

54. Baking apples: ROMES.

65. Dickinson's "There Is No __ Like a Book": FRIGATE. This C/A made absolutely no sense without the poem's second line. I had to look it up. It's very short: 

"There is no Frigate like a Book 

To take us Lands away 

Nor any Coursers like a Page 

Of prancing Poetry – 

This Traverse may the poorest take 

Without oppress of Toll – 

How frugal is the Chariot 

That bears the Human Soul –"

67. Son of David: SOLOMON. The original wise guy.

68. Small rubbers: ERASERS. No comment.

Down:

1. Closest pal: BFF. Best Friend Forever.

2. Not up to 57-Down, perhaps: IRR. Irregular -- not up to STDS.

3. Moo goo __ pan: GAI. Chinese take-out.

4. Lascivious look: OGLE. Or leer.

5. Place for dough: TILL. Do they still call it that?

6. "Night" writer Wiesel: ELIE. From an Amazon blurb: Night is Elie Wiesel's masterpiece, a candid, horrific, and deeply poignant autobiographical account of his survival as a teenager in the Nazi death camps. 

 

7. __ McClain, last MLB pitcher with 30+ wins: DENNY.

8. Three-in-one vaccine, familiarly: DPT. Diphtheria, Pertussis, and Tetanus.

9. Thing to lend or bend: EAR. Friends, Romans, countrymen...

10. __ shot: FLU. Wow, it's almost that time again.

11. Place for bats: RACK. Fess up. You tried CAVE, didn't you?

12. Doing the job: ON TASK. "On it" was too short.

13. Nova __: SCOTIA. Our Canadian geography lesson for today. Spent a night in Halifax back in the '80s. We were bar-hopping, and I don't remember a whole lot about it.

14. Clipped: TERSE. Like a response.

18. Namesake of a popular club: SAM. Sam Walton -- you may have heard of his Sam's Club. 

 

 21. Office conf.: MTG.Just a meeting.

22. Baby whale: CALF.

23. "You __ not?": IN OR. Green paint.

25. __ May: CAPE. Let's see a show of hands. Did you know this is in New Jersey? I'll bet YR knows.

26. "Dynasty" villain: ALEXIS. She's been played by several actresses, but none better than the original, Joan Collins.

27. Quixote's squire __ Panza: SANCHO. "Whether the stone hits the pitcher, or the pitcher hits the stone, it's going to be bad for the pitcher." -- Man of La Mancha.

30. Persona non __: GRATA. "You're not wanted here."

31. Insert that insulates: LINING. In your winter coat.

32. Chatterbox: YAKKER. Accurate, but seems awkward.

34. Guide: STEER.

36. Plea at sea: SOS. Save Our Souls: ... --- ...

38. It ebbs and flows: TIDE.

39. H.S. exams: SATS. Back in my day we took the ACT -- from American College Testing.

40. Mumbai titles: SRIS. It was still Bombay the last time I visited there.

43. Man cave, maybe: DEN.

44. Ravel work immortalized in "10": BOLERO. This was a difficult piece to record back in the LP days. Either the soft passages would get lost in the surface noise, or the crescendo would distort.

45. Bring into play: ENTAIL.

47. Big fans: BUFFS. Windmills was too long.

49. Shore eagle: ERN. Hello, old cw friend.

50. Pocahontas' spouse: ROLFE. John. Should have known this, but had to wait on the perps.

53. Jason's ship: ARGO. 

 

 

55. Israel's "Iron Lady": MEIR. She was born in Kyiv, but grew up in Milwaukee.

56. Sicilian mount: ETNA. Can you name another 4-letter volcano? Yeah, Fuji.

57. Benchmarks: abbr.: STDS.

59. One may delay your arrival: JAM. Dw's German uncle called it a traffic marmalade.

60. Ioway relative: OTO.

61. Cornish game __: HEN.

62. Help-wanted ad abbr.: EOE. Equal Opportunity Employer.

63. Capek's dystopian play: RUR. Rossum's Universal Robots

64. GPS lines: STS. Streets

And thus endeth our reading from the scripture according to Rich Norris. C.C. will make the grid magically appear below. Desper-otto out.