Tuesday, August 2, 2022 Ella Dershowitz

I'd Put a SPELL on You if only I could find my BOOK.

16-Across. *   "Please don't get hurt!": BE CAREFUL!

22-Across. *   Have to pay back extra: OWE INTEREST.

34-Across. *   "Seriously!?": OH, BROTHER!

51-Across. *   Mall store with engagement rings: KAY JEWELERS.

And the unifier:

59-Across. Wizard's reference, and what the first words of the answers to the starred clues do: SPELL BOOK.  BeOweOhKay.

Across:

1. Tappable screen symbols: ICONS.

6. Spanish "Bravo!": ¡OLÉ!  Today's Spanish lesson.  Hi, Lucina!

9. Canine cries: ARFs.  //  And 45-Down. Sharp barks: YIPs.

13. "Water Lilies" painter Claude: MONET.  Once when we were in France, we went to Giverny where Monet painted the Water Lilies.  We checked into this little hotel where we had to pay upfront.  The hotel manager said to us: Giff me the Monet!  So we paid him.

14. Nemesis: FOE.

15. Chicken structure: COOP.

18. Banks of fashion: TYRA.  Tyra Lynne Banks (b. Dec. 4, 1973) was also the host of America's Next Top Model.

19. Listening device: WIRE TAP.

20. "Wake Up With Al" weather anchor: ROKER.  It seems like Al Roker (né Albert Lincoln Roker; b. Aug. 20, 1954) has been doing the weather forever!

21. "The Bachelorette" TV network: ABC.

26. Movie roll: REEL.  Are these still used?

28. Transitioned: SEGUED.

29. Cultural funding org.: NEA.  As in the National Endowment for the Arts.

30. Early PC platform: MS-DOS.  As in MicroSoft-Disk Operating System.

32. "Well played": NICE!

33. Countdown start: TEN.

38. Quick blow: JAB.

41. Many a Middle Easterner: ARAB.

42. Like a post-rain hike: MUDDY.

46. Poetic tribute: ODE.

47. To a greater extent: MORE SO.

50. Garr of "Tootsie": TERI.  Tootsie was a rom-com that came out in 1982!

54. Skybox guest: VIP.

55. Discontinued Apple music devices: iPODS.  I am so sorry to see the discontinuation of the iPod.  I use mine nearly every day.

56. Preambles: LEAD INS.

58. Italian volcano: ETNA.  Here's the live cam on the volcano.  No volcanic action today, but you can see some birds fly by.

62. Faction: SECT.

63. Bowler's asset: AIM.  Hi, Boomer!

64. Anti-frizz hair product: SERUM.

65. Christmas __: TREE.

66. Zodiac sign between Cancer and Virgo: LEO.  Hi, LeoIII!

67. Remove: ERASE.

Down:

1. Knocks back a few: IMBIBES.

2. Strong-armed: COERCED.

3. __ in a blue moon: ONCE.

4. "How cool": NEAT-O.

5. Juice box inserts: STRAWS.

6. Like sour milk: OFF.

7. Baseball Hall of Famer Brock: LOU.  //  Not to be confused with 27-Down. WC: LOO.  Louis Clark Brock (June 18, 1939 ~ Sept. 6, 2020) played for 19 years in the major league.  He is best known for stealing bases.

8. Long wriggly fish: EEL.  Where do EELS come from?

9. Audition hopeful: ACTOR.

10. Gruff footballer played by Brett Goldstein on "Ted Lasso": ROY KENT.  I have not seen Ted Lasso, but it has gotten great reviews.  Brett Goldstein (b. July 17, 1980) is a British comedian and actor.

11. Know in advance: FORESEE.

12. Like a no-frills hotel room: SPARTAN.

17. Fencing sword: EPÉE.  //  Not to be confused with 53-Down. Curved sword: SABER.

19. Like shorts weather: WARM.  Hi again, Lucina!

20. Turn in for cash: REDEEM.

23. Satiric science prize for "research that makes people laugh, then think": IG-NOBEL.  While not as prestigious as the Nobel Prize, the Ig Nobel Prize has been awarded since 1991 to celebrate unusual or trivial achievements in scientific research.  The Ig Nobel Prizes this year will be awarded in September.  Here is a list and explanation of last year's prizes.

24. Night in Paris: NUIT.  Today's French lesson.  Do you know the difference between Nuit and Soir?

25. Virginia __: TECH.  I first tried Virginia Dare, then Virginia Reel, before letting the perps have their way.

31. Disgraces: SHAMES.

35. Tweezing target: BROW.

36. Hard to find: RARE.

37. Boring routine: RUT.

38. Least serious: JOKIEST.  Seems a bit awkward.

39. Travel kit plug: ADAPTER.

40. Most nominated woman in Grammy history: BEYONCÉ.  Beyoncé (née Beyoncé Giselle Knowles; b. Sept. 4, 1981) has been nominated almost 80 times, and has been awarded nearly 30 Grammys.

43. Conniving: DEVIOUS.  Did anyone watch Devious Maids?  It ran on Lifetime for about 4 years.

44. Message on a Wonderland potion: DRINK ME.  Did Alice IMBIBE?

48. List on Facebook Marketplace, say: SELL.

49. Warning words: OR ELSE.

52. Matchmaking site available in Hebrew: JDATE.

57. Cartoon explorer with a talking backpack: DORA.  I knew that Dora was an Explorer, but I didn't know her backpack talked.

59. "Blueberries for __": Caldecott Honor Book by Robert McCloskey: SAL.  Blueberries for Sal was first published in 1948.  It takes place in Maine and is about a little girl named Sal who is out picking blue berries at the same time a bear cub is searching for berries.

60. Diner slice: PIE.

61. Moody genre: EMO.

Here's the Grid:

חתולה

Stay cool, folks!

Monday August 1, 2022 Paul Coulter

Theme: ANIMAL RIGHTS (56. Anti-cruelty movement, and what the answers to the starred clues literally have) - The right side of each theme entry is an animal.

20. *Clickable device with a light sensor: OPTICAL MOUSE.

35. *One who's easily frightened: SCAREDY CAT.

42. *Simple riding toy: HOBBY HORSE.

Boomer here. 

When I was a kid, the only animal we had was a pet dog. Speaking of that era, C.C. and I journeyed to northern Wisconsin to meet up with a friend of my youth who I have not seen for about 60 years.  We exchanged stories of our lives and had a great meal at a restaurant on Yellow Lake near Danbury. 

Boomer and Carol, Danbury, WI, 7/25/2025

 Across:

1. "Same here": SO AM I.  I am not a CRAB!

6. Chesapeake Bay crustacean: CRAB.  Yes you are!!

10. Lavish party: FETE.

14. Stand-up performer: COMIC.  Some of us can do it sitting down.

15. Top-quality: A ONE.  There are a lot of A ONE puzzle solvers on this blog.

16. Iraq's eastern neighbor: IRAN.  You would probably RUN too if you lived there.

17. Muscat native: OMANI.

18. Grazing grounds: RANGELAND.  Sounds like Texas to me.

22. __ Beta Kappa: PHI.

23. Chemical in oven cleaners: LYE.  Our oven never gets dirty enough to use that stuff.

24. "How unfortunate": IT'S SAD.  Miguel Sano is back on the Twins roster.  His batting average is .089 !

28. "Comprende?": SEE.

29. Lavish party: GALA.  We had a GALA party of four at Yellow Lake.

31. "Wheels down" stat, for short: ETA.

32. Confined, with "up": PENT.  Maybe in a PENT house.

38. Merit badge earner: SCOUT.  I was a cub scout but never made it to the next level.

40. Tolkien monster: ORC.

41. Bizarre: OUTRE.

45. Clearance rack caveat: AS IS.

46. Craft brewer's brew: ALE.  My favorite is Canada Dry ginger ALE.

47. Snail-paced: POKY.  Hurry up!

48. R&B's Boyz II __: MEN.

50. Bruce of the "Die Hard" films: WILLIS.

52. Auction offer: BID.  We have spent a lot of time buying and selling on eBbay.  

53. Director's shout: CUT.  Also a barber's shout.

60. Citrus drink: ORANGEADE.

63. Big name in water filters: BRITA.  Our water does not need a filter.  City water is pretty clean.

64. Bookish sort: NERD.  Lots of NERD movies back in the eighties ?

65. GPS suggestions: RTES.  We just Google a map if we don't know where we're going.

66. Prying tool: LEVER.

67. "To a ... " poems: ODES.  "Ode to Billie Joe" It was the third of June....

68. Cravings: YENS.

69. Decorative jugs: EWERS.

Down:

1. Ice cream serving: SCOOP.  I need more than one SCOOP!

2. Get-up-and-go: OOMPH.  Got up and went!

3. Violin master who taught Stradivari: AMATI.  Sounds like a name of a car model.

4. __ Cooper: small car made by BMW: MINI.  And this is a car model.  Too small for me.

5. Spiky winter hanger: ICICLE.  Back on our home in a few months. Brrr

6. Kid-lit writer/illustrator Eric: CARLE.

7. Knock about: ROAM. We ROAMed north to Danbury WI. 

8. __ Domini: ANNO.  Year of our Lord.

9. Enchant: BEGUILE.

10. Contents of a backup drive: FILES. C.C. keeps them on the computer.

11. Chapter in history: ERA.  Also a pitcher's stat.

12. Light brown color: TAN.  I have a bit on the arms.  It'll be gone by fall.

13. See 51-Down: END. 51. With 13-Down, clothing retailer that began as a mail-order yachting supply company: LANDS.

19. Chihuahua or Sonora, por ejemplo: ESTADO.  Is it fair to put non English fill with non English clue in a Monday puzzle?

21. "The __ have it": "Motion carries": AYES.  Ah Yes!

25. Religious splinter groups: SECTS.

26. Video game pioneer: ATARI.  Spent many hours on mine.

27. Goes out with: DATES.  I dated my bowling ball for years.

28. Bang, as one's toe: STUB. Receipt for a ticket.

29. Actor Shandling: GARRY.  Never thought much of him.

30. Curved sections: ARCS.  The really BIG one is in St, Louis!

32. "Oh, nonsense!": PSHAW.

33. Bacteria that may trigger a food recall: E COLI.  Nasty stuff.

34. Prestigious prize with six categories: NOBEL.

36. Downton Abbey's Mrs. Patmore, for one: COOK.  I was one years ago.  The pay was a bit low but it was fun.

37. Chinese currency: YUAN.

39. Skill measured in wpm: TYPING. Still using only one hand. My WPM is about 5.

43. Stockings: HOSIERY.  I call them socks.

44. Mideast leader: EMIR.

49. Safe to consume: EDIBLE.  The C.C. garden beans are very EDIBLE.

52. "God __ America": BLESS.  "From the mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans white with foam "

53. Onion kin: CHIVE.

54. Say out loud: UTTER.  Better say it louder.

55. Bygone Russian rulers: TSARS.  I think Vladimir is wearing the badge now.

57. Life partner: MATE.  Your King is trapped in chess.

58. Yemen coastal city: ADEN.

59. Increased in size: GREW. My money did not grow in Danbury, WI. 

60. Peace activist Yoko: ONO.

61. Crimson: RED.

62. "__ you sure?": ARE.  I am never sure.

Boomer

Sunday July 31, 2022 Michael Schlossberg

Theme: - "Reboots" - Each TV show is humorously rephrased.

23. Show about monks who form a rock group?: BAND OF BROTHERS.

25. Show about Alfred E. Neuman and company?: MADMEN.

37. Show about some St. Louis sluggers and their fixer-upper?: HOUSE OF CARDS. Cardinals.

55. Show about a mom-and-pop neckwear business?: FAMILY TIES.

70. Show about mug shot photography?: ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT.

88. Show about a village and its mountain lion problem?: COUGAR TOWN.

102. Show about a red sock, a blue sock, and the love they found in the dryer?: THE ODD COUPLE.

120. Show about a school pep squad?: CHEERS.

121. Show about Quaker Oats, Mikey, and the partnership that changed cereal forever?: THE FACTS OF LIFE.

Such fun clues. The red sock and blue sock love story made me chuckle!

Rarely do we see 6-letter theme entries on Sundays, but they're perfect for this grid. Very clean 142-worder. Patti's grids are always clean, and consistently so.

Across:

1. Wild hog: BOAR.

5. Latish lunch hr.: ONE PM. We have lunch at 11:00am.

10. Place for "me time": SPA.

13. Inflame with love: ENAMOR.

19. Atlanta Hawks arena until 1997: OMNI. Wikipedia says the Omni was closed and demolished in 1997. Replaced by State Farm Arena.

20. Cause of in-flight turbulence: AIR POCKET.

22. "__ Bovary": MADAME. Emma. Kind of like the lady in "The Necklace".

26. Start: ONSET.

27. Comedian Mandel: HOWIE.

28. Consecrate: ANOINT.

29. Charming person?: SORCERER. Great clue.

34. "Who here hath __ these two days buried": "Romeo and Juliet": LAIN.

36. "Queer Eye" grooming expert Jonathan Van __: NESS.

41. "Fiddlesticks!": NUTS.

43. Lhasa __: APSO.

44. Tea party attendee: DOLL.

45. Highway scofflaw: SPEEDER.

48. Old dietary std.: RDA. Recommended Dietary Allowances.

51. Physicist Nikola: TESLA. The electric car is named after him.

53. Delta deposit: SILT.

57. Sign up: ENROLL.

59. Ceremonial pile: PYRE.

61. Clog front: TOE.

62. Letters of urgency: ASAP. Sometimes Boomer's blood draw is marked as STAT.

63. Gal: LASS.

65. NBA Commissioner Silver: ADAM.

67. Muted colors: PASTELS.

75. Fitness coach: TRAINER.

76. City near Tahoe: RENO.

77. Foil kin: EPEE.

78. Cal's twin, in a Steinbeck novel: ARON. "East of Eden".

79. Ortiz of "Ugly Betty": ANA. Here with Betty, her sister in the series.

81. Storage tower: SILO.

83. Pats gently: DABS AT.

92. Actress Merrill: DINA.

94. Old-school: RETRO.

95. Hooting bird: OWL.

96. Tiny garden planting: SEEDLET. I simply use "seed", no matter how tiny the "seed" is.

98. Attic pests: MICE.

100. Exploit: FEAT.

101. Uneven do: SHAG.

105. One-word warning: DON'T. And 129. Declines: SAYS NO.

108. Black shade: COAL.

111. Loses enthusiasm: RUNS COLD.

112. "Ooh! There!": I SEE IT.

114. Zenith's opposite: NADIR.

116. Go off-script: AD LIB.

126. Sniggler's trap: EEL POT. Nothing beats freshly roasted eels.

127. Network announcement: STATION ID.

128. Facility: EASE.

130. Yang counterpart: YIN. Yin food for summer. Yang for winter.

131. Give some space: LET BE.

132. Deliver by parachute: DROP.

Down:

1. Former wrestling star __ Brazil: BOBO. Learning moment for me. His real name is Houston Harris. Wikipedia says he's "credited with breaking down barriers of racial segregation in professional wrestling, Harris is considered one of the first successful African-American professional wrestlers."

2. Muscat's sultanate: OMAN.

3. Writers Patchett and Brashares: ANNS.

4. Goes it alone: RIDES SOLO.

5. Dolt: OAF.

6. Tip for a writer: NIB. Pen tip.

7. Make a typo, say: ERR.

8. HMO alternative: PPO. Preferred Provider Organization.

9. May honoree: MOTHER.

10. Distort, as data: SKEW.

11. Danger: PERIL.

12. Utterly lost: AT SEA.

13. Name that means "God is with us": EMMANUEL. Hebrew meaning.

14. Flatbread served with tandoori chicken: NAAN.

15. Bells and whistles: ADD-ONS.

16. First lady after Bess: MAMIE.

17. Signs: OMENS.

18. Uses for a fee: RENTS.

21. Guitar Hero combinations: CHORDS.

24. Native Nebraskan: OTOE.

30. Baton: ROD.

31. Heads of cabbage, for short?: CFOS. Oh, cabbage can mean "money".

32. Celestial event: ECLIPSE.

33. Come from behind: RALLY.

35. The Shins' genre: INDIE POP. We also have 47. Punk offshoot: EMO. The Shins is from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

37. Not fancy: HATE. Verb "fancy".

38. Double-click, say: OPEN. As a link.

39. Cold War letters: USSR.

40. Beach bottle letters: SPF. Mostly 50 these days.

42. Attempt: TRY.

46. Wonderland cake message: EAT ME.

48. Ascended: RISEN.

49. Passed out: DEALT.

50. Nile vipers: ASPS.

52. __ wrench: ALLEN.

54. Sports page news: TRADE.

56. Name on four British art galleries: TATE. Tate Britain, Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool & Tate St Ives.

58. Use a surgical beam: LASE.

60. Idyllic spots: EDENS.

64. Battlefield board game: STRATEGO.

66. Elude: AVOID.

68. Copied: APED.

69. Makeup mishap: SMEAR.

70. Shape hidden in the FedEx logo: ARROW.

71. Fauvist painter Dufy: RAOUL. French for Ralph.

72. Key holder: RING.

73. Southern inflection: DRAWL.

74. November meteor shower: LEONIDS.

75. __ Tuesday: TACO.

80. Silent assent: NOD.

82. Spanish citrus fruit: LIMON.

84. Discombobulated: BEFUDDLED.

85. Fitbit unit: STEP.

86. Asian lake memorialized by UNESCO: ARAL. Fresh clue angle.

87. Pledge drive freebie: TOTE.

89. Volcanic debris: ASH.

90. Is affected by: REACTS TO. This new oral chemo Olaparib is very toxic. Poor Boomer is dealing with a few side effects.

91. Volleyball court divider: NET.

93. Electrically flexible: AC DC.

97. Economy: THRIFT.

99. Earth-friendly prefix: ECO.

101. Brews: STEEPS.

103. Continental travel pass: EURAIL.

104. Snowman in "Frozen": OLAF. Built by our crossword regular ELSA.

105. Chops up: DICES.

106. "Straight Outta Compton" actor __ Jackson Jr.: OSHEA. Son of Ice Cube, whose real name is O'Shea Jackson.

107. Bruins legend Cam: NEELY. Hockey Hall of Famer.

109. On edge: ANTSY.

110. "Chicago Hope" Emmy winner: LAHTI (Christine)

113. Wrinkle remover: IRON.

115. Faculty head: DEAN.

117. Perjurer: LIAR.

118. "In that case ... ": IF SO.

119. [The light's green!]: BEEP.

122. Cedar Rapids college: COE. Founded in 1851.

123. Blast letters: TNT.

124. Bro or sis: SIB.

125. Tribute in verse: ODE.

Boomer and I ventured out to Wisconsin last Monday and visited his childhood friend Carol, whom he had not seen for over 60 years. We enjoyed the breaded walleye strips and the Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos at The REC on the Yellow Lake. 

The trip was tiring for Boomer, esp with the nausea issue. But he recovered quickly. He was so happy to be outside again. He had a minor fall on our stairs on Friday. I was able to get him up. Nothing was broken, so it's all good. 

Have any of you visited Danbury, WI before? The Yellow Lake is so quiet and pretty, a little paradise in the middle of nowhere.

C.C.