Sunday December 19 2021 Jeffrey Wechsler

 

Theme: - "The Long and Short of It" - The long I sound (in *IGHT) is replaced by a short I sound.

26. Sweaters in King Arthur's court?: KNITS OF THE ROUND TABLE. Knight of the Round Table.

34. Offshore retreat for comedians?: THE ISLE OF WIT. The Isle of Wight.

62. Query to a U.K.-focused think tank?: GOT ANY MORE BRIT IDEAS. Got any more bright ideas?

72. Altered the revealing side of a dress?: MADE A SLIT ADJUSTMENT. Made a slight adjustment.

98. Siblings who produce court orders?: WRIT BROTHERS. Wright brothers.

111. Dieters' interim report on smaller-sized clothes?: WE HAVE JUST BEGUN TO FIT. We have just begin to fight.

Super tight set. Long I-t sound is replaced by a short i-t.

And a rare 136-word grid. Normally we get a 144-worder. This means we get more fill in the 6-and 7-word length. 

Cannot tell you enough how much I admire Jeffrey, a truly original. You'll never see him dupe a theme that's been done before.

 
Across:

1. Make a face, perhaps: SCULPT. Really make a face. Not mugging for camera.

 

7. Tab on old cash registers: NO SALE.

13. Tarkington tween: PENROD.  Unknown to me. Booth Tarkington.

19. Disagreeable: ORNERY.

20. Brunch fare: OMELETS.

22. Like zebras and donkeys: EQUINE.

23. __ pin: metal fastener: COTTER.

24. They know their stuff: SAVANTS.

25. Plants with flavorful and irritating varieties: SUMACS. Here's the flavorful spice. It's also in Za'atar.

29. "Ciao!": SEE YA.

30. Shiraz's country: IRAN. 16. Currency of 30-Across: RIAL.

31. PC shortcut key: ALT.

32. Earth goddess: GAEA.

43. NL West team: PADRES.

47. Thing thrown from a tree?: SHADOW. Nice clue.

48. Hotel selection: ROOMS.

49. Director Kazan: ELIA. He directed "East of Eden". His name popped up a lot in Tracy & Hepburn.

50. Clog (up): STOP.

53. Amsterdam's Anne Frank House, e.g.: MUSEUM.

56. Swindle: ROOK.

57. "Best ever" acronym: GOAT. Greatest of All Time.

58. Harsh-smelling: ACRID.

60. Spectrum maker: PRISM.

68. Pic, in Peru: FOTO.

69. Buffalo QB Josh: ALLEN. Sorry I don't know him. Saw the sign behind the other play's helmet?

70. Utah ski resort: ALTA.

80. Work with pupils: TEACH.

81. Mazda two-seater: MIATA.

82. Adverb for Descartes: ERGO.

83. Police force acronym: SWAT. Here's the Beijing SWAT.  The four Chinese characters say "Beijing Special Police".

86. Venue for the premiere of Handel's "Water Music": THAMES.

90. Genesis casualty: ABEL.

91. Come across: MEET.

92. Capital of Yemen: SANA'A.

94. Allows access: LETS IN.

96. Diner counter array: STOOLS. Xi'an has 16 COVID cases right now. Many places are closed.

101. Tusked beast: BOAR.

103. Like the lower half of the Polish flag: RED. See here.

104. Allows access, poetically: OPES.

106. Major appliances: OVENS.

119. March: PARADE.

120. Out of the loop: UNAWARE.

121. Prison with a Greek eponym: ATTICA.

122. Worshipper: ADORER. We all adore Jeffrey.

123. Lead off: GO FIRST.

124. Kitchen gadget: PEELER.

125. Defy: RESIST.

126. Biological quintet: SENSES.

127. Members of the genus Vipera: ADDERS.

Down:

1. Saves, with "away": SOCKS. Boomer has a big plastic Pepsi bottle just like this. He used to threw in the winning money from his pot games.

 

2. Pot boiler in "Macbeth": CRONE.

3. Remove, as a knot: UNTIE.

4. Female driver Ortiz of "Fast & Furious" films: LETTY. Learning moment for me. Played by Michelle Rodriguez.

5. Augur: PRESAGE.

6. Rookie: TYRO.

7. Cosa __: NOSTRA.The Sicilian Mafia. As mentioned in Mario Puzo's books.

8. Missouri River city: OMAHA.

9. Ordinal for Uranus: SEVENTH.

10. Bygone fruit spray: ALAR.

11. Longtime TV host who gives automotive advice in "Popular Mechanics": LENO.

12. Caesar's penultimate words: ET TU.

13. Mortar partner: PESTLE.

14. Congo line?: EQUATOR. Did you read "Conga line"?

15. More than cold: NUMB. Cold here. But last Wednesday was very warm. A tornado touched down in Minnesota. First time in December.

17. In the distant past: ONCE.

18. __ Arc, Arkansas: DES. What's it famous for?

21. Common ID: SSN.

27. Quaint word of revulsion: FIE.

28. South Asian lentil dish: DAL. Is this too spicy for your taste these days, Vidwan?

33. Evaluate: ASSAY.

35. Sam-I-Am offering: HAM.

36. Rutgers URL ending: EDU.

37. Android alternative: IOS.

38. Won all the games: SWEPT.

39. Official note from the boss: FORMAL MEMO. I just call it a memo.

40. What beaux do: WOO.

41. Texter's letters for two cents?: IMO. Cute clue.

42. "That's unfortunate": TSK.

43. Simon who played Scotty in 2009's "Star Trek": PEGG.

44. Distant: ALOOF.

45. Unicellular alga: DIATOM. New term to me.

46. Onomatopoeic rapping: RAT-A-TAT-TAT.

47. Notebook type: SPIRAL.

51. Network for film buffs: TCM.

52. Gold in La Paz: ORO.

54. Sch. near Providence: URI. The University of Rhode Island.

55. Term starter: MID. Midterm.

59. Chopped liver purveyor: DELI. A few more food items: 64. Sammie with crunch: BLT.  73. Put away: EAT. 78. __ fresca: pico de gallo: SALSA.

61. Something taken on a bus: SEAT.

63. Transfer point: NODE.

65. Twenty quires: REAM.

66. Bay of Bengal's ocean: INDIAN.

67. Sound system: STEREO.

71. Madonna companion, in much art: ANGEL.

74. Dresden "Drat!": ACH.

75. Word on old tablets: SHALT.

76. Hook partner: JAB.

77. The VW Amarok, e.g.: UTE. Not familiar with the car. VW Amarok.

79. Little ones: TOTS.

83. Bismarck-to-Tucson dir.: SSW.

84. Journalist Hemingway's assignment: WAR.

85. Singer DiFranco: ANI.

87. "No big deal": MEH.

88. Summer at the Sorbonne: ETE.

89. Bygone geopolitical abbr.: SSR. Soviet Socialist Republic.

93. Wears down: ABRADES. Not a word I use.

95. Meteorological lines: ISOBARS.

97. Put on display, with "out": TROTTED.

99. Go back: REVERT.

100. Dedicated verse: ODE.

101. Engenders: BEGETS.

102. Brutus Buckeye is its mascot: Abbr.: OSU.

105. Intrinsically: PER SE. Also the name of pricey restaurant.

107. Made an official choice: VOTED.

108. IRS option: E FILE.

109. More amiable: NICER.

110. Marquee names: STARS.

111. Enjoy the kiddie pool: WADE.

112. Cupid analog: EROS.

113. Sreenivasan of PBS News: HARI. Wikipedia says he was born in Mumbai, India. So happy that Jeffrey found this new clue angle.

114. Oft-corked container: JUG.

115. Chicago pizzeria franchise, familiarly: UNOS.

116. Security source: SAFE.

117. Hotel bed request: TWIN.

118. Valley with vintners: NAPA.

119. Course goal for many: PAR.

Two extra notes: 

1) Here's Spitzboov's obit. Thanks for the link, Ray! Thanks also for visiting Spitzboov and talking with him while he was sick. Thanks also for all your sweet comments, everyone. I sent the Monday blog link to his family. His son Mark read them and was very touched.

2) Please continue to keep Boomer in your thoughts and prayers. He's going to get a CT scan and then bone scan next Thursday. We hope they can take actions soon to relieve his pain. We also hope they can help him with the loss of balance issue. He falls so easily now.

C.C.

Saturday, December 18, 2021, Craig Stowe

 Saturday Themeless by Craig Stowe

Craig is a a cook in a Toronto hotel and turns out fabulous puzzles that I have had the pleasure of blogging. Here is what he had to say about this construction:

Hi Gary,

Thanks for your email.  This is my second attempt at a central stack and I am happier with this result.  The seed for the puzzle is 32- Across and that stack actually appeared quickly.  Sometimes luck is on our side.  It required a revision as I originally had DUMBBELLS at 32- Down, which Rich thought might be too inappropriate.  I'm not the most sensitive person.  

I promise I didn't intentionally include STOWED.  There weren't any options (barring partials) that didn't involve STOW?? so stowed it was.  One partial is bad enough.

I try to make themeless puzzles ones that I'd enjoy solving myself.  I hope this one leaves a good impression with folks.

All the best,

Craig

 

Craig and I had a great exchange about 

30. Shipping rope: TYE. 

We eventually settled on "A chain or rope one end of which passes through the mast or through a block and is made fast to the center of a yard, the other end being attached to a tackle by means of which a yard is hoisted or lowered"

When I asked Craig if this pretty obscure word was an "any port in a storm" fill for those three cells. He replied, 

"26. "You __!": BETCHA.!" 

and gave me permission to share that with you. Ya gotta love a guy like that!

Across:

1. Some assembly stations: SALAD BARS - Are there any of these still operating?

10. __ al pomodoro: Tuscan soup: PAPPA - PAPPA means "mush" and al pomodoro means with tomatoes in Italian. 

15. "Beats me": I'VE NO IDEA.

16. Use: AVAIL.

17. "Nice work!": GOOD STUFF.

18. Wagner's father-in-law: LISZT - "What is Wagner?" was a recent Jeopardy question for this answer - "Married last name of opera art director Cosima, two of her children were named Siegfried and Isolde."

Cosima and Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt

19. Least amt.: MIN.

20. Zaire's Mobutu __ Seko: SESE - It is estimated that he embezzled over $5B from his country

21. __ ball: MATZO - Some say it is only for Passover and not for Hanukkah 

22. "Doe, __ ... ": A DEER.

25. "The Last O.G." network: TBS - Okay...

27. Chi preceder: TAI - Craig! Phi is the Greek letter before chi but TAI comes first in the elegant Chinese art of TAI CHI.

28. Family nicknames: MAS.

31. Gym sets: REPS - REPetitionS

32. "No worries": DON'T MENTION IT - Craig's seed entry

35. Stop digressing: CUT TO THE CHASE.

36. Words often embroidered: HOME SWEET HOME 

37. "Love & Basketball" actor Omar: EPPS.

38. All Saints' __: EVE - The day before All Saint's Day on November 1 is All Saint's EVE which became All Hallow's EVE which is also now called Halloween

39. Bonobo, for one: APE - Some very close genetic relatives

40. First animal in the Chinese zodiac: RAT - My first entry of RAM only needed one correction 

41. #34: DDE - HST was #33 and JFK was #35

42. Diminish slowly: ERODE.

46. Toot: SPREE - Bachelor parties and 21st birthdays leap to my mind

48. Latin for "scraped," in a phrase: RASA - We all have a chance at a Tabula RASA in two weeks

52. Pasture sound: LOW - Sounds of the season: "The cattle are LOWING..."

53. Get around: ELUDE and 2. Get around: AVOID - Craig?

54. Metaphor for doing more than is required: EXTRA MILE.

57. Massenet opera about a Spanish legend: LE CID - Massenet based his opera on the Spanish legend of El Cid

58. Party where no one goes home?: SLEEPOVER 

59. Curator's concerns: FAKES - Our creative constructor Jeffrey Wechsler's job was as an art curator in New Jersey. (*See his great comments on the subject below my write-up)

60. Bike shop array: TEN-SPEEDS - 1967 Ad

Down:

1. Two after pi: SIGMA - Now we get the Greek alphabet

3. Sierra __: LEONE - ASKY Airlines can fly you from Accra, Ghana to Freetown, Sierra LEONE among other places. 4. "Then what?": AND.

5. Soirees: DOS - All you'd ever want to know about soirees, bashes, DO'S, etc

6. Parts of drills: BITS.

7. Musical collaboration instruction: ADUE - A frequent cwd visitor

8. Calls on a field: REFS - Peyton Manning seems to disagree with that REF'S call

9. Insurance metaphor: SAFETY NET - Many in our flood-prone town have no insurance SAFETY NET when the Platte comes out of its banks

10. Conceals, in a way: PALMS - The Queen Of Spades has been PALMED below

11. Adidas rival: AVIA.

12. What most novels are written in: PAST TENSE  - “Scarlett O’Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm…”

13. Round item in a square box: PIZZA PIE.

14. Charlie Parker, at times: ALTOIST - Charlie played an ALTO sax so...

23. Isn't subtle, in a way: EMOTES and 24. Jeremiads: RANTS.

29. Put away: STOWED - Craig disavowed showing any favoritism toward his name

30. Giggly sound: TE HEE.

31. Nomad: ROAMER.

32. Sandbox toy: DUMP TRUCK - Nobody builds 'em better 

33. "Into Thin Air" setting: MT. EVEREST - A gripping excerpt

34. "With any luck": I HOPE.

35. Bargain in court: COP A PLEA.

36. "Nature would not invest __ in such shadowing passion without some instruction": Othello: HERSELF - "I wouldn’t be trembling like this if I didn’t know deep down this (Desdemona's unfaithfullness) was all true"

41. Title pages?: DEEDS.

43. Stuffed hors d'oeuvre: OLIVE - How 'bout using blue cheese?

44. Parceled (out): DOLED.

45. Pretty pitchers: EWERS - All you'd wanna know

47. Carmela portrayer on "The Sopranos": EDIE - Last week we had Tony Soprano's psychiatrist Dr. Melfi, this week it's his wife Carmela played by EDIE Falco

49. Semi shaft: AXLE - This rig has five of them

50. Arm of the Korean War: STEN - Often the cwd weapon of choice

51. Father of the Amazons: ARES - Everything you want to know

55. Bridge Base Online offering, e.g.: APP.

56. Duff Beer server: MOE - A brew served on The Simpsons 

*Jeffrey's comments on FAKES

Gary,

Well, a little bit of free publicity!  Oh, wait – I’m retired!  Anyhow, I don’t specifically recall any outright fakes that I had to deal with in my museum job (I did see some at estate sales).  The most common source of authenticity problems that came my way involved individuals who brought items to the museum to find out if they were of value.  I worked at a university museum, a non-profit institution, and therefore I did not offer valuations; I could, though, give an opinion on artistic quality and if the item was an original work of art.  For example, many items bore notable signatures; they were not fakes but merely reproductions.  This can usually be easily ascertained by looking at the surface with a magnifying lens.  The presence of a dot pattern reveals the image’s source as a mechanical, photo-reproductive process.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey

Friday, December 17, 2021, Gary Larson

Title: Cinderella, what are you wearing to the ball? (See later inspiration)

Today our constructing phenom, Gary don't call me Far Side Larson,  presents me with his 6th Friday that I have blogged in 2021 (along with 2 for Moe) to go with his 7 Sundays. We have slang for 'clothing' which are the second word in a two-word in the language expression as the theme. I would say this is a whimsical effort overall. I am sure you missed Gary since his most recent LAT was all the way back on Sunday. In keeping with modern Fridays, this has more words and fewer empty spaces but the theme is tight and the amusement factor high. The longish non-themers BETRAYS,  BLAME ME, CALYPSO, CAPSULE, DINGBAT. DOGBANE,  ECOCIDE, ENDRUNS, FASTENS. FLAILED, LABORED, MADISON,  RISES UP  and TEHRANI are quite a diverse field. They are each 7 letters long. So we start:

15A. Outfits for a climber?: HIGH GEAR (8). A climber goes up wearing his climbing gear and his friend cruises in his car in high gear. LINK

18A. His-and-her outfits?: BINARY NUMBERS (13). The binary numbers (0 and 1) are how computers work. Per the Oxford English Dictionary, “number” has been used to mean “an article of clothing." gender specific clothing is binary. LINK

35A. Outfits for tourist town natives?: LOCAL  RAGS (9). When I was in boarding school the locals were the "townies." I think of our hometown newspaper as the local rag, but it can also be a worthless piece of cloth, especially one that is torn or worn. rags, ragged or tattered clothing.

56A. Outfits for the masses?: COMMON THREADS (13). Know your threads will not help you here. This is the simplest of the fill.

62A. Outfits for dairy farmers?: MILK DUDS (8). My favorite and the silliest. Duds as clothing comes from Middle English dudde, originally meaning worn-out or ragged clothing. Dairy farmers milk their cows and we all know

MILK DUDS Candies were introduced by F. Hoffman & Co. of         Chicago in 1928. The Candiesgot their name because their maker     found it impossible to get the chocolate-covered caramels to form perfectly round balls, so he called them “duds.” He wanted candy     symmetry but failed. Gary did not. This very symmetrical set of five themers has 51 spaces of the 225 in this 15x15 with no reveal. 

Across:

1. Follower of Jefferson: MADISON. President number 4 followed number 3.

8. Turn on: START. This works well for machines, but is more complicated with humans.

13. Polluter's crime: ECOCIDE. I put in ___CIDE  and ruminated for a while. (Cow sub-theme?)

14. Mountaintop home: AERIE. This variant of eyrie is the bird nest of an eagle, falcon, hawk, or other bird of prey.

17. Refuse: TRASH. I refused to be tricked.

21. The first "A" in A.A. Milne: ALAN. Alan Alexander was more than the creator of Winnie the pu pu platter (oops)...anyway, he studied under H.G. Wells and played cricket with J.M. Barrie, A.C. Doyle, and P.G.Wodehouse.

23. Fictional 1847 autobiographer: EYRE. Oh Jane you fictional woman.

24. __ Paulo: SAO. Brazil. 

25. Typographical ornament: DINGBAT. No this is not ...

but in the computer industry, a Dingbat font is a font that has symbols and shapes in the positions designated for alphabetical or numeric. Wingding is very popular.

29. Evasive tactics: END RUNS. To circumvent from the Football play.

31. Spot: SEE.  I got this right away.

32. Infuriates: IRES. I am irked.

34. Polynesian capital: APIA. Apia, town, port, and capital (since 1959) of Samoa. It is located on the northern coast of Upolu Island, in the South Pacific Ocean. Many famous athletes and actors come from Samoa. 

39. Jessica of "Dark Angel": ALBA. She played a genetically enhanced government superhuman prototype, Max Guevera who teamed with a journalist, played by Michael Weatherly (NCIS and BULL) in a post-apocalyptic Seattle to right wrongs. Seattle also was the home of iZombie another SciFi series. 

42. Long-gone time: YORE.

43. Tiger, e.g.: CAT. Deceptively simple.

46. Belafonte #1 album on which "Day-O" was the first track: CALYPSO. The Banana Boat Song.

50. Turns on: BETRAYS.

52. Corp. alias letters: DBA. Doing business as.

53. Subway fare?: HERO. Not the price of travel...

55. Sword with a three-sided blade: EPEE.

61. They hold your horses: REINS. Literal but amusing.

65. Deejay, at times: EMCEE. DJ MC ...

66. Swung wildly: FLAILED. Facing a famed Twins pitcher...

67. Transfers, as a house: DEEDS. My bread and butter.

68. Secures: FASTENS.

Down:

1. Not so hot: MEH. The bloggers' safe word.

2. Handel's "__, Galatea e Polifemo": ACI. A most emotional TALE from the mists of myth. I will await comments from all of our musically educated posters.

3. Poisonous plant reputed to repel canines: DOGBANE. It is poisonous to dogs and looks like milkweed to which I am extremely allergic. It  does feel like a CSO to John Lampkin.

4. Chinese book of divination: I-CHING. My late brother David studied these rituals.

5. Register, with "up": SIGN. Be cause you ...

6. Music halls of old: ODEA. If you look up ODEA in the dictionary it tells you "noun:the plural of odeum." Helpful.

7. Close: NEAR.
 
8. Ring bearer?: SATURN. A debut for this clue/fill combo. Very clever.

9. Called: TERMED.

10. Many an Omani: ARAB. And 12D. Like many "Argo" militants: TEHRANI. The capital of Iran.

11. Revolts: RISESUP. They have had their share in that part of the world.

16. White alternative: RYE. Just bread but it does rhyme with...

19. Emmy-winning scientist: NYE.

20. '90s-'00s Cubs star: SOSA. No indication of his being one of many being blackballed by the Hall of Fame voters. This ARTICLE is very long but should be of interest to our dedicated baseball fans.

21. GEICO highlights: ADS. Most of their's are funny. I see you LIMU!

22. Tell tales, maybe: LIE. Maybe, baby?

26. Book jacket text, often: BIO.

27. Semicircle, say: ARC. 

28. Leaves for a spot: TEA. A CSO to many at the Corner who enjoy a spot of tea, but not a cup. It is a more confusing IDIOM.

30. Student housing VIPs: RAS. Resident Assistants.

33. Wily: SLY. Sly E Coyote just didn't work.
 
35. Set down: LAY. Two versions: I set down the book on the desk. Or, I laid down stricter rules for my...

36. Take badly?: ROB. A now common clue/fill to deceive the audience.

37. "__ you done?": ARE. No, we have many clues left.

38. Perceive: GET. I perceived Gary's meaning.

39. Like some appliances: AC/DC.

40. Worked: LABORED.

41. Words of confession: BLAME ME. Meh. That is not a confession.

43. Tablet alternative: CAPSULE. Not computer but pills.

44. Supportive response: AYE. Nay!

45. "The Waste Land" monogram: TSE. The best link I could find for those interested in THOMAS STEARNS ELIOT.

47. Called: PHONED. Someday this to will be gone from the lexicon.

48. It's sometimes necessary to come to them: SENSES.

49. Food bit: ORT.

51. Website with "Ask Me Anything" interviews: REDDIT. Reddit AMAs (which stands for “Ask Me Anything”)—whether they're timed around the news cycle or simply focused on a topic of great general interest—are Q&As designed to bring an authority on a subject to a community of interested people.

54. Unit of resistance: OHM.

57. Laptop navigation aids: MICE. 

58. Jazz phrase: RIFF.

59. "Enchanted" movie girl: ELLA. Recently this version

60. Aliases: AKAS. Also Known As.

63. Thieves' place: DEN. A concept from the Christian Bible.

64. Radical '60s org.: SDS. Students for a Democratic Society. Very active at my college alma mater while I was there 1965-1969.

Gee, I am done and now it is your turn. It has been a hectic time in my life but what good is life without stuff happening. Be well all; thank GL and thank all who read and/or write. Lemonade out.