Tuesday, October 19, 2021 David Poole

Shining Stars.

4-Down. Movie with Minions: DESPICABLE ME.  Spica is the brightest star in the constellation of Vergo.

8-Down. "Spoon-bender" debunked by the Amazing Randi: URI GELLER.  Rigel is the brightest star in the constellation of Orion.

32-Down. Diner list for animal product avoiders: VEGAN MENU.  Vega is the brightest star in the constellation of Lyra.

And the unifier:

23-Down. Meteors, and what three Down answers aptly contain: FALLING STARS.  Note that each of the Stars, which begin with circled letter, is in the Down, or Falling position.  Each of the named stars is also the brightest star in its constellation.  This puzzle really needs a bit of astronomical knowledge in order to truly appreciate the theme.  I don't know that much about the constellations and their stars, so this puzzle was a learning moment for me.

Across:

1. In the thick of: AMID.

5. "Honey, I __ the Kids": 1989 comedy: SHRUNK.  Disney film.

11. Brown bag staple, initially: PBJ.  Apparently there is a proper way to make a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich.

14. Waves from the back of a boat: WAKE.

15. Like some sandpaper: COARSE.

16. Sam Adams, e.g.: ALE.  Everything you ever wanted to know about Sam Adams Beers and Ales.

17. Flickered-out flames?: EXES.

18. "24" analyst Chloe __: O'BRIAN.  I never watched 24, so was not familiar with this fictional character.  She was played by Mary Lynn Rajskub (b. June 22, 1971), whom I recognize, but didn't know her name.

19. Operate: RUN.

20. Good thing to have for a change?: DIAPER BAG.  Cute clue.

22. A lot: OFTEN.

24. Judith of "Down Home": IVEY.  Down Home is a rather obscure reference to a sit-com that ran for only 1 year in the early 1990s.  Judith Ivey (b. Sept. 4, 1951) was the only female star in the show.

25. Diplomat's post: EMBASSY.  Does the Diplomat stay at the Embassy Suites?

27. Reacted to a really bad pun, perhaps: WINCED.  I don't trust stairs because they are always up to something.

30. Thrash about: FLAIL.

31. Think tank output: IDEAS.

32. South African grassland: VELD.

Grasslands throughout the World

33. Place to bowl: LANE.  Hi, Boomer!

37. Hunk of bacon, say: SLAB.  Who knew there were so many types of bacon?

38. Flood deterrent: LEVEE.  The Levees held up during Hurricane Ida.

39. Like a Frappuccino: ICED.  You can find one at your local Starbucks.

40. Severe criticism: HELL.

41. Word with teen or golden: AGER.  As in a Teenager or a Golden Ager.

42. Nab in a trap: SNARE.

43. The Ellery Queen Award is one: EDGAR.  Everything you ever wanted to know about the Edgar Awards, but didn't know to ask.

45. Mideast or Midwest: REGION.

46. Motorcyclist's invitation: CLIMB ON.

49. "You're gonna need a bigger boat" movie: JAWS.

50. Biblical prophet: HOSEA.  Hosea was an 8th century BCE prophet.  He is classified as one of the minor prophets.

51. Apple known by its first three letters: MACINTOSH.  Generally referred to as a Mac.  We had one of these a lifetime ago.  It got me through law school.

56. Notable period: ERA.

57. Words to live by: CREDOS.

59. R&B's India.__: ARIE.  India.Arie (née India Arie Simpson; b. Oct. 3, 1975) has won 4 Grammy Awards.

60. Actress de Armas: ANA.  Although her name didn't immediately ring a bell, Cuban-born Ana de Armas (née Ana Celia de Armas Caso; Apr. 30, 1988), has been in a number of movies, including the 2019 movie Knives Out.

61. Light, as a fire: KINDLE.  Also the name of Amazon's e-book.

62. Demolish: RAZE.

63. Bench press muscle, briefly: PEC.

64. Barflies: SOUSES.

65. Winter ride: SLED.

Down:

1. Blown away: AWED.

2. Calf-covering skirt: MAXI.

3. DIY furniture brand: IKEA.  You think I'm going to make an Ikea joke?  Sorry, you'll have to make it yourself.  *

5. Got a run home: SCORED.

6. Avocation: HOBBY.

7. __ avis: RARA.  Today's Latin lesson.  The two word phrase means Rare Bird.  It's also the name of a town in Mississippi.

9. Code-breaking org.: NSA.  As in National Security Agency.

10. Jedi Master Obi-Wan ___: KENOBI.  A reference to the Star Wars movies.

11. Repair bill heading: PARTS.

12. B.B. King genre: BLUES.  Although he went by B.B. King, is actual name was Riley B. King (Sept. 16, 1925 ~ May 14, 2015).

13. Female donkey: JENNY.

21. 12/24 and 12/31: EVEs.  Tricky.  December 24 and December 31 are Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, respectively.

26. Manufactured: MADE.

27. Genie's offering: WISH.

28. Run without moving: IDLE.

29. "Hud" Oscar-winner Patricia: NEAL.  Patricia Neal's (née Patsy Louise Neal; Jan. 20, 1926 ~ Aug. 8, 2010) career was interrupted when she suffered a stroke at age 40.

Patricia Neal and Paul Newman in Hud.

30. Flu symptom: FEVER.  Here's to you, Jinx!

34. Antioxidant berry: AÇAÍ.  This berry has become a crossword staple.

35. Old Roman fiddler: NERO.  Emperor Nero makes frequent guest appearances in the puzzles.

36. Eve's first home: EDEN.

38. Italy's Como, per esempio: LAGO.  Today's Italian Lesson.

42. Fixed with thread: SEWN.

44. Arizona MLBers: DBACKS.  As in the Diamondbacks Major League Baseball team.

45. Workers' rewards: RAISES.

46. Inexpensive: CHEAP.

47. "SNL" producer Michaels: LORNE.

Lorne Michaels (né Lorne David Lipowitz; b. Nov. 17, 1944)

48. Author Asimov: ISAAC.  Isaac Asimov (Jan. 1920 ~ Apr. 6, 1992) makes frequent appearances in the puzzles.

49. Rapper with the 2013 #1 album "Born Sinner": J COLE.  I am not up on my rap musicians.

J Cole (né Jermaine Lamarr Cole; b. Jan. 28, 1985)

52. Also includes: ADDS.

53. Face-to-face exam: ORAL.

54. XL or L, but not LX: SIZE.

55. Take to heart: HEED.

58. Brazil metropolis: RIO.  Rio de Janeiro is known for its Mardi Gras / Carnaval festival.

חתולה

*

Monday October 18, 2021 Lynn Lempel

Theme: PICK ME UP (62. Morale booster ... or words that might suggest the arrival of one of the circled words)

16. Happy-go-lucky: CAREFREE.

24. Meddlesome types: BUSYBODIES.

38. Pie à la mode choice: VANILLA ICE CREAM.

50. Anxiety resulting from being stuck indoors: CABIN FEVER.

Boomer here.  

CABs are pretty pricey, I got rid of the VAN when we stopped doing baseball card shows and flea markets, so we purchased a new car last year but to my surprise it did not have a CD player.  Thank you so much desper-otto for fixing us up with some great music!

I was supposed to have today off however one of my teammates went fishing so as you read this, I am probably on the lanes at Super Bowl in Ramsey, Minnesota.

Across:

1. High-arcing tennis shot: LOB.  Yes, I graduated from baseball to slow pitch softball around 1966.

4. Merlot and Malbec: REDS.  Cincinnati lost their Red legs a few years ago.

8. Surname at Tara: O'HARA.

13. Thurman in films: UMA.  Strange name for a lady.  Also she has a daughter named LUNA.

14. British noble: EARL. 

15. Particle in a nucleus: PROTON.

18. Supper, say: REPAST.  Sorry but I have never heard anyone say "Breakfast, Lunch, and Repast."

19. Ancient Andeans: INCAS.  I did hear Jimmy Durante say "INKA"

20. Seek the affections of: WOO.

22. The "E" in HOMES: ERIE.  The Great lakes, of course.  I have only seen "S" and "M".

23. Fizzles out: DIES.

27. Germ-killing brand: LYSOL.

29. Norse explorer Ericson: LEIF.

30. As well: TOO. Also.

32. Cry from a sty: OINK.  That's the way it is spelled but it really does not sound that way.

34. State-sponsored gambling game: LOTTO.  I have seen these but Minnesota raises money with scratch off LOTTO.  However the state also seems to raise our taxes.

42. Tolerate: STAND.

43. PBS science series: NOVA.  Chevrolet named a compact car NOVA.

44. Chick-to-be, maybe: EGG.  Or you might just find it in your potato salad.

45. April 1 "honoree": FOOL.

48. First head of the USSR: LENIN.

54. Apples on desks: MACS.  Big hamburgers from the Golden Arches?

57. Codebreaker Turing: ALAN.  This is the first name of my bowling buddy who couldn't make it this morning.  I heard that he went fishing.  I really cannot imagine why anyone would fish rather than bowl.  This is the land of 10,000 lakes but also the land of 10,000 LANES.

58. Public health org.: FDA. This is for the Food and Drugs but we hear more from the CDC in these COVID times.

59. Bird that beats a birdie?: EAGLE.  I have one in my golf career.  It was on a 490 - par five.  I was on the green in two and made a thirty foot putt. 

60. Small, sizewise: PETITE.  These are mostly C.C.'s clothes.  She just does not know how to eat like us Minnesotans.

65. Left the building: EXITED.

66. Texan's neighbor: OKIE.  From Muskokie.

67. Cooperstown stat: RBI.  It's a decent statistic, but sometimes a batter can earn one with a fly ball, a man on third, and less than two outs.  That's baseball !

68. Gathered, as leaves: RAKED.  We are in the middle of FALL here in the Northland and our leaves are falling like Astros opponents.  We have a service that picks them up, but it seems heaven forbid, they don't want to come back and do the job more than once.

69. Use a Kindle: READ.

70. Fed. benefits provider: SSA.  All of us old timers are getting a 5.9 % raise in 2022.  And by the way, prices are going up 20 - 40% on almost everything.

Down:

1. Thinking clearly: LUCID.

2. Saudi neighbor: OMANI.

3. Spanish port city: BARCELONA.  Right on the Atlantic Coast.  I wonder if they have ships and containers waiting to be unloaded there.

4. NFL officials: REFS.  I think only one is a REF.  Others are line judges and back judges. 

5. Spot for a bud: EAR.

6. "The Chronic" Dr.: DRE.

7. Gobs and gobs: SLEWS.

8. Smeltery supply: ORE.  Also wondering if OREgon has ships and containers on their coast.

9. Wished one could have: HOPED FOR.  My Mom's name was HOPE and I think she may have HOPED for a boy on October 27, 1947.

10. Gaming giant: ATARI.  Played it forever back in the 1990s.  

11. TV personality O'Donnell: ROSIE.

12. Starts a poker pot: ANTES.  It was a nickel in the Caddyshack at Oak Ridge Country Club back in the 1960s 

15. Examine thoroughly: PROBE.  Then we had the opportunity to Examine 5 cards Thoroughly.

17. "No sweat!": EASY.  I usually do not sweat when I bowl, but that doesn't make it easy.

21. Tall, skinny Olive: OYL.  Popeye's girlfriend.

24. Bubble, as water: BOIL.  212 degrees F.

25. Forearm bone: ULNA.

26. Tin Man's lubricator: OILCAN.  I seem to remember the Red Sox had a pitcher named "OIL CAN" Boyd.  He had a relative that worked at a grocery store that we frequented. So one day I gave him a baseball card... of OILCAN Boyd.

28. Convinced of: SOLD ON.

30. Hotel room sets: TVS.

31. Meal opening?: OAT.  Oatmeal. Mine is usually WHEAT or CORN .

33. All in the family: KIN.  Archie and Edith Bunker.

35. Many "Twilight" characters: TEENAGERS.

36. Kids' chasing game: TAG.  I never wanted to be "IT".

37. Texter's "Heavens!": OMG.

39. Limitless: INFINITE.

40. "Merry old" king: COLE.  Then there was Nat King ....

41. Always: EVER.

46. Eliminated, gangland-style: OFFED.

47. Went first: LED.  Four Major League baseball teams LED but when the playoffs came they "WENT OUT FIRST."  Sorry TTP. 

49. Spiritual guide at a mosque: IMAM.

50. Frivolous escapade: CAPER.

51. Amazon Echo assistant: ALEXA.  Is she related to Siri?

52. Craft to dye for: BATIK.

53. Aircraft's trail: VAPOR.

55. After-school groups: CLUBS.  I have fourteen of these in a bag in the garage.  Bowling season has started and I really do not like to play golf on windy 55 degree days.

56. Old photo tone: SEPIA.

59. Barely got, with "out": EKED.  Last Monday I EKED out a 194 game.  We'll see what happens today.

61. Bill's co-adventurer: TED.

63. Name on a 1950s campaign button: IKE.  I remember him.  "EISENHOWER" did not fit on the campaign buttons.

64. Intelligence-gathering org.: CIA.  "The CIA'S subversive, and SO' S the FCC.  There's no one left but THEE and WE, and we're not sure of THEE." "John Birch Society"  Chad Mitchell Trio.

Boomer

Sunday, October 17, 2021 Robert E. Lee Morris

Theme:  "Scrapper's Delight" - Anagrams of 9 metals are hidden inside each theme entry.

23A. Attorneys' firm offering: LEGAL SERVICES. Silver.

29A. With no one behind you: DEAD LAST. Lead.

38A. Potential soldier: ARMY RECRUIT. Mercury.

54A. Drumstick: CHICKEN LEG. Nickel.

72A. Provider of much change: COIN RETURN. Iron.

87A. Chatty Cathy is one: TALKING DOLL. Gold.

95A. Mid-20th-century First and Second Lady: PAT NIXON. Tin.

37D. N.W.A's debut single: PANIC ZONE. Zinc.

50D. Coal train component: HOPPER CAR. Copper.

Reveal:

104. Scrapyard commodity ... and what's hidden in the nine other longest puzzle answers: RECYCLED METAL.

No circles in this grid, not that they're needed to solve the puzzle. 

Anagrammed themes seem to be popular these days, esp with LAT and Universal. Quite impressive to have MERCURY and COPPER anagrammed.

Across:

1. Check alternative: PAYPAL. My PayPal account is just my email address. So simple.

7. Sacred beetle: SCARAB. The Egyptian beetle.

13. Tijuana pair: DOS. Two in Spanish.

16. It can be natural: GAS.

19. Creed in Rocky films: APOLLO.

20. Winter melon: CASABA. This is what Chinese "winter melon" looks like. Popular soup ingredient in winter.

21. MPG-testing org.: EPA.

22. Wordsworth work: ODE.

25. "Day __": 1965 hit: TRIPPER. The Beatles.

27. Way out: EXIT.

28. Put on a pedestal: DEIFY.

30. Capital NW of Boston: OTTAWA. Let's see.

33. Secure at the pier: LASH. New meaning to me.

34. Pooch in pictures: ASTA. "The Thin Man" .

35. Backtalk: LIP.

42. Storage unit: BYTE.

43. In hot water: UP A TREE.

45. Prefix with gender: TRANS.

46. Sorento or Soul: KIA. Minority owned by Hyundai.

47. Cocktail party snacks: CANAPES.

48. Tommy who teamed with Cheech: CHONG. Cheech & Chong

49. Queen's "__ One Bites the Dust": ANOTHER.

53. "Cool, dude!": I DIG IT.

56. Buckeyes of the Big Ten: OSU.

57. Handy sack: COT.

58. Sham sawbones: QUACK. And 81. Snake oil, allegedly: PANACEA.

59. Lubricate: OIL.

60. Church recess: APSE.

61. Bird voiced by Rowan Atkinson in "The Lion King": ZAZU.  The 1994 film. Voiced by John Oliver in 2019 remake. Google shows Zazu means "Movement" in Swahili.

63. Road annoyances: BUMPS.

64. Complete: TOTAL.

66. Navy NCOs: CPOS. Also 84. Veteran on the briny: OLD SALT.

67. Oodles: A LOT.

68. Thor Heyerdahl craft: RAI. Old regular.

69. Auspices: AEGIS.

70. Pool tool: CUE.

71. "Little Birds" author Anaïs: NIN.

75. Cracker-__: homespun: BARREL. I only know the restaurant Cracker Barrel, where I first heard of catfish.

78. Everlasting: ETERNAL.

80. Deliver a stem-winder, say: ORATE.

82. Multivolume set in the reference sect.: OED.

83. African capital: CAIRO.

85. Green Bay Packers coach LaFleur: MATT. No idea. Lots of Packers fan in Minnesota.

90. Deli choice: RYE. Our local Asian store sells freshly made bánh mì. I like their pickled carrots & daikon.

91. Many opera highlights: SOLI. Solos more common.

92. "National Velvet" author Bagnold: ENID.

93. Site of a major part of the Bible?: RED SEA. Oh, parting of the red sea.

97. Shoulder wrap: SHAWL.

99. Snippet of dialogue: LINE.

103. Hold back: INHIBIT.

108. Charge: FEE.

109. Infant suffix: ILE. Infantile.

110. Alphabetically first U.S. national park: ACADIA.
 
111. Catholic devotion: NOVENA. Nine-day ritual.

112. OTC drug agency: FDA.

113. __ Plaines: Chicago suburb: DES.

114. Homer, in baseball lingo: GO DEEP. Tiny dupe with 16. Overtake: GO PAST.

115. Tarzan, e.g.: APE MAN.

Down:

1. Ashen: PALE.

2. High point: APEX.

3. "Smarter than the average bear" bear: YOGI.

4. "Republic" philosopher: PLATO. "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle". He said.

5. Word with caps or clear: ALL.

6. Spanish article: LOS.

7. Off-the-wall: SCREWY.

8. Pricey delicacy: CAVIAR. Have you tried caviar on toast?

9. "Keep dreaming": AS IF.

10. Risqué: RACY. So odd about Blogger/Google algorithm. They send you to spam if you mention EROTIC in the comment. Thankfully TTP noticed that. Thanks to those who helped us test last Monday.

11. Former Japanese prime minister: ABE. Universally disliked in Japan.

12. __-relief: BAS.

13. Abhor: DETEST.

14. Part of OWN: OPRAH.

15. Common word in a novel's dialogue: SAID.

17. "__ Fideles": ADESTE.

18. Maker of iComfort mattresses: SERTA.

24. Mingo portrayer on "Daniel Boone": ED AMES. He's still alive. 94 years old now.

26. Dabble in: PLAY AT.

29. Where many speeches come from: DAIS.

31. La Brea attraction: TAR PIT.

32. Brand similar to Spam: TREET. Never had this or Spam.

33. Fencing maneuver: LUNGE.

35. '60s White House daughter: LUCI. Heard of her only because Boomer likes to sing Luci Baines. He's been having a sore throat since last Monday. He could hardly talk yesterday. He's not coughing. Just feeling weak.

36. Apple offering: IPAD.

39. Focus of some committees: ETHICS.

40. Bit of stoneware: CROCK. Not sure if you guys know about the kimchi wars between China and South Korea. When I grew up, we called pickled napa cabbage/daikon as "pao cai", and we called Kimchi as "Korean pao cai".

41. Arrange in sequence: RANK.

42. Library sect.: BIOG. Biography.

44. Retire at home, say?: TAG OUT. Home plate. Also 75. Calls at home: BALLS.

46. Solemn sound: KNELL.

48. Lad: CHAP.

49. Bit of checkpoint deception: ALIAS.

51. Exxon, once: ESSO.

52. Feels bad about: RUES.

54. Seasoning in Indian cuisine: CUMIN. Also key ingredient in Xinjiang (Uygur) lamb skewers, popular street food in Xi'an. Lots of Muslim food. Lots of Korean food in our neighborhood. As I said before, they're just two of the ethnic minorities in China.

55. At lunch, say: NOT IN.

58. California state bird: QUAIL. Ours is Loon. The nickname for our soccer team Minnesota United is "The Loons".  Guess what, PK, their mascot is called PK.

60. TLX autos: ACURAS.

61. Western writer Grey: ZANE.

62. Came down: ALIT.

63. In __ daylight: BROAD.

64. Ancient German: TEUTON.

65. Storybook fiend: OGRE.

69. Vintage video game name: ATARI.

70. Symbol of a year, perhaps: CANDLE. Boomer turns 74 on Oct 27!

72. Tech news site: CNET.

73. Explorer Amundsen: ROALD. Norwegian explorer. I only know Dahl, who was named after the explorer, according to Wikipedia.

74. Estrada of "CHiPs": ERIK.

76. Hard to grasp: EELY.

77. Running behind: LATE.

79. Helix-shaped pasta: ROTINI.

81. Curly-haired pet: POODLE.

83. Genesis brother: CAIN.

85. Sounded like the wind: MOANED.

86. Tennis great Gibson: ALTHEA. First Black Grand Slam winner.

87. Govt. securities: T NOTES.

88. __ Mansion, NYC mayor's residence: GRACIE.  Current mayor and his wife.

89. Lizard feature: DEWLAP.

91. Calvin's spaceman alter ego, in comics: SPIFF. Unknown to me.

92. Force to leave: EXILE.

94. Motrin alternative: ALEVE.

96. Footnote abbr.: IBID.

97. Whole bunch: SCAD.

98. "Nothing lived in him but fear and hatred": HYDE.

100. List member: ITEM.

101. Family nickname: NANA. We call "nei nei" in Chinese.

102. Flair: ELAN.

104. Common cleaning supply: RAG. 107. Common cleaning supply: MOP.

105. Tourism opening: ECO.

106. Target of a cheek swab: DNA.

A few extra notes:

1) When I emailed Agnes on Thursday, she's still coughing and she just could not get a good rest in the evening. Poor Agnes also can't tolerate Robitussin, which relieved my coughing ordeal a few years ago. Get back to us soon, Agnes! Been too long.

2) Happy birthday to Wilbur Charles! When did you join our blog, Bill?  2014?

C.C.