Sunday, May 21, 2017, Agnes Davidson and C.C. Burnikel

TITLE: HOLY MOLY


Eleven days ago, it was my privilege to blog a fun Wednesday offering by our blog mistress C.C. and fellow blogger/constructor Agnes Davison - Irish Miss to us regulars (and irregulars for that matter).  (Correction: Davidson.)

Today our own version of Cagney and Lacy present us with nine substitutions where, as you can see in the grid below, an H in one word of a common phrase is changed to an M which results in a silly phrase and accompanied by clever cluing. 

Getting the gimmick early facilitated the solve and a good time was had by all! Let's see what silliness tempered with expertise our friends presented in today's themers, some of which actually exist:

22. Check for doneness? : FEEL THE MEAT (HEAT) - This man does this for a living

24. Drama written in code? :  MORSE (HORSE) PLAY - Here ya go!

36. President's daily delivery? : MAIL (HAIL) TO THE CHIEF - If you send MAIL TO THE CHIEF of the Winnebago tribe in Winnebago, NE, he'll pick it up here

51. North Pole yoga need? : SANTA MAT (HAT)

67. Iditarod trainee? : MUSH (HUSH) PUPPY - How cute is this Siberian Husky?

81. Ace accountant : TAX MAVEN (HAVEN) - A company in Manimajra Chandigarh, India

93. Cat's tail, maybe? : MOUSE (HOUSE) DETECTIVE

110. Spy with a sweet tooth? : DONUT MOLE (HOLE)

112. Burrower servicing borrowers? : MONEY (HONEY) BADGER - A group in an online game called EVE. Nah, I hadn't heard of it either.

Now let's look the rest of C.C.'s and Agnes's High Minded entries

Across

1. Library attention-getter : PSST

5. Secretly kept in the message loop, for short : BCCED - Blind Carbon CopiED- They'll never know you told everyone!

10. Prior president who swore in two subsequent presidents : TAFT - Our 350 lb. president had this bathtub made, became the Chief Justice and swore in Coolidge and Hoover

14. Spicy : RACY

18. Trick : DUPE

19. NutraSweet developer : SEARLE - Aspertame used under the name NutraSweet has been controversial

20. Donor drive target : ALUM

21. Penne __ vodka : ALLA

26. Tylenol result, ideally : RELIEF

27. Juice-and-fish-broth product : CLAMATO  - It sounds like an SNL made- up product

29. Weather Channel concern : STORM

30. Brown on a shelf : DAN - I love Dan's books but in other quarters...

31. USC, for one : SCH

33. Like most cheeseburgers : CALORIC - Dictionary.com -

35. Teeny tiny : WEE

40. Poppycock : ROT

42. IMF division?: Abbr. : INTL - International Monetary Fund

43. Vintage vehicle : REO

44. It helps you focus : LENS - In action -

45. Bronco's bailiwick : CORRAL

48. "The Simpsons" disco devotee : STU

49. Chew the fat : JAW

50. Wish were here : MISS - My lovely bride always misses her kitty when we travel

53. Universe of Energy locale : EPCOT - A good dark, cool place to take a nap after you've seen it as many times as I have

55. Cell dweller : CON - Not all CONS are in cells in Joe Arpaio's AZ jail

56. Having a kick : TANGY

58. Preventative power : VETO

59. Foam finger number : ONE

60. "That hurts!" : OUCH

62. The end of its name is also its natl. airline : UAE and 118. Milan moolah : EURO - The UAE airline is the sponsor of the AC Milan Soccer team and this jersey will cost you €89,95

63. Scout rider : TONTO

64. Yoga position : ASANA

69. Mayflower notable : ALDEN - Below is a picture of John Alden's 8th Great Granddaughter Norma Jean Mortenson Baker who became, well, you know...

70. Waits for an agent, maybe : HOLDS

71. The __ Store : UPS - United Parcel Service

72. Minor tiff : SPAT

73. It's only make-believe : ACT - Are you faking it?

74. "That's clear" : I SEE

75. Plants of immortality, to ancient Egyptians : ALOES

77. God in the Vatican : DIO - An expose' of the Vatican's Bank Of God

78. SeaWorld performer : SHAMU

83. Lab gel : AGAR

85. Grafton's "__ for Burglar" : B IS - Sue's titling gimmick is always an easy fill

86. Usually single-stranded molecule : RNA 

88. Twists, e.g. : DANCES - Morticia and Lurch gettin' down

89. Scheme : PLOT

90. Had the most points : LED

91. Short cut : SNIP

92. Sun. speech : SER and 98. Yawn-inducing : BANAL  - Verbal Sominex at our church 

96. Sharp criticism : JAB

99. Rulers in a line : DYNASTS - I suppose a DYNASTY would have these

101. You can't live without it : AIR - You can go 3 min without AIR, 3 days without water and 3 weeks without food. Give or take.

102. Tolkien monster : ORC

103. Taste enhanced by shrimp paste : UMAMI - A tasty clue we've had quite often as of late

105. Make more than : OUT EARN

107. Joined forces : ALLIED

115. Sea once home to 1,100-plus islands : ARAL

116. Dell operator : USER

117. Chews the scenery : EMOTES

119. Bear's advice : SELL - Warren Buffet - "Buy when everyone else is SELLING"

120. Pharmacy pickups : MEDS

121. Big Pharma dept. : R AND D

122. Aligned, with "in" : SYNC

Down

1. Sharable doc format : PDF

2. Court figure : SUER

3. "C'mon, let's go!" : SPEED IT UP - After 50 yrs., I just sit in the car and wait!

4. Like revealing memoirs : TELL ALL

5. Hearty comfort food : BEEF STEW - Dinty Moore in our house

6. Short filmmaker? : CAM - This breakout hit from the Sundance Film Festival was shot with the CAM on an iPhone 5S and this is one of its 89. Movie promoters : POSTERS

7. Exhibit with a baby : CRECHE - The one with Jesus can't be put on public property

8. Its logo contains Hebrew letters : EL AL - "To the skies" in Hebrew

9. Separates : DETACHES

10. Wrapped Mexican fare : TAMALES

11. Many : A LOT OF 113. Weather-sensitive airport stat : ETD'S - A LOT OF ETD'S were altered by 100 mph winds in Omaha last week

12. Public outcry : FUROR

13. Corp. symbols : TMS - ™

14. Mesmerized : RAPT

15. Give the green light : ALLOW

16. Limerick neighbor : CLARE - Not much of a common dry land border

17. "I did it!" : YAY ME

19. Pronoun for a skiff : SHE

23. Salon treatment : TINT

25. Accompanist? : ESCORT - When you need a good ESCORT in Louisville, KY...

 

28. Common town ctr. : MAIN ST

32. John of "Star Trek" (2009) : CHO - Only the first generation Star Trek peeps are in my memory bank

34. Twist in a tale : IRONY - I'll bet you know the elements of this short story from the master of IRONY - O'Henry

36. Wrong at the start? : MIS

37. Certain entrance fee : ANTE

38. Speak : ORATE

39. Assure : CLINCH

41. John of "Hairspray" (2007) : TRAVOLTA 

45. Shrewd : CAGEY

46. Change, as a will : AMEND

47. Foamy eye-opener : LATTE

49. First name in virology : JONAS - After contracting polio, FDR started the March Of Dimes that provided much funding for Salk's vaccine that came too late for the president

50. Mop tamer : MOUSSE

51. Acknowledge the general : SNAP TO and 76. Acknowledge the general : SALUTE

52. Tom or Jerry : TOON

54. Denounces : CONDEMNS - SILENT N was a fill for "44 A Solemn ending" on Wednesday 

55. "Off" is often printed on one : COUPON 

57. Live-in nanny : AU PAIR - French for "on par" or "equal to"

61. LaserJet printers : HPS

63. Dash gauges : TACHS

64. Words after make or take : A HIT - If you have to take A HIT to make A HIT, you may need new friends  

65. "That's a shame" : SO SAD - "Dear Dad, No mon, no fun, your Son" "Dear Son, Too bad, SO SAD, your Dad"

66. Siri's Amazon counterpart : ALEXA

67. Grand Canyon rentals : MULES

68. Computer download : UPDATE - After missing several new roads, I paid to UPDATE this system in my car

73. Lines for an audience : ASIDE - Frank does this all the time in House Of Cards

75. Big name in labels : AVERY - We use AVERY 5360 labels for Christmas card address labels

79. One who may cease to exist when underappreciated? : MR NICE GUY - Never made my collection

80. USC part: Abbr. : UNIV

82. Nailed the test : ACED IT

84. Filmy fabric : GOSSAMER - Sinatra sang "A trip to the moon on GOSSAMER wings" was just One Of Those Things

85. Backstabbed : BETRAYED and 96. Biblical backstabber : JUDAS

87. Jungle chest-beater : APE who never 93. Treated very roughly : MAULED Fay Ray

90. Floral ring : LEI

91. Progress : STRIDES  

94. Yoplait competitor : DANNON

95. Cuba libre ingredient : COLA - Hmmm... what brand of COLA should I use?

97. Love, Italian-style : AMORE - "When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie"

100. Loop in a cattle drive : NOOSE

104. Think (over) : MULL

106. Arco de Constantino locale : ROMA - Isn't that building to the right famous too? 😁

108. Versatile NFL defenders : LBS - An average NFL LB weighs 235 LBS

109. "Nebraska" Oscar nominee : DERN - A wonderful movie about small town life and aging

111. Tight-lipped : MUM

114. Mythical bird : ROC

Hoping you don't need the Heimlich Maneuver after my commentary, let's hear from you, the Huddled Masses:

Saturday, May 20th, 2017, Erik Agard

Theme: None

Words: 66 (missing J,Q,Z)

Blocks: 35

Well I just smoked through this puzzle today - we've had one other Saturday LA Times from Mr. Agard, and with a similar "blocked" corner grid.  It helped tremendously that I nailed the first two across answers, but got stumped on the third one due to my consideration that "Brown" meant the affectionate nick-name for UPS.  Also did not get my "ta-DA~!" due to an overlooked misspelling, but otherwise, I was definitely on this construction's wavelength.  Even the proper names filled in on their own.  Some of the longer fills, two with "THE" as part of the answers;

15a. Brown nemesis? : KITE-EATING TREE - ah, Charlie Brown

61a. Dialogue box? : TELEVISION SET - around here, it's the IDIOT box, or the boob tube

 4d. Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos : THE FATES - the Wiki

  

38d. Title role for Roger Moore and Val Kilmer : THE SAINT - one from TV, the other, film

THE onward~!

ACROSS:

1. Canine cleaners : TOOTHBRUSHES - and a semi-clecho;

13. Canine fixers : ORTHODONTISTS - dentist humor;

Or how about these~?  #2, and #3

17. Be unproductive : LOAF

18. But : YET

19. __ wage : HOURLY

21. 24/7 : ALWAYS

23. Movie makeup dept. creations : ETs

25. Small group : TRIO

26. Capacity count : SEATS

27. French physician Paul for whom an area of the brain is named : BROCA - his Wiki

29. Rose on the charts : AXL - ah, not the verb "rise", but Guns N' Roses frontman

30. Idris of "Zootopia" : ELBA - via perps

32. Small part of a big machine : COG

33. Neat wrap-up? : NIK - neatnik

34. Milky Way cousin : MARS BAR

37. JFK skill : ORATORY - I was thinking it would be something like "oratION"

39. 2010 role for Denzel : ELI - great movie - if you don't know the "twist"

40. Mus. version : ARRangement

41. Go together well : MESH - like smoothly fitting "COGs"

42. Gun : REV

43. Skein makeup : GEESE

45. "Later" : "SEE YA~!"

49. PC components : CPUs

51. Vowel-free lunch : BLT

52. Baited with a red herring : MISLED

53. Violinist Mintz mentored by Isaac Stern : SHLOMO - via perps

55. Ipanema greeting : OLA

57. Recess in church : APSE

58. Winner of the most Grand Slam singles titles in the Open Era : SERENA WILLIAMS

62. Company known for programming languages : ROSETTA STONE

DOWN:

1. Stein's partner : TOKLAS

2. Maryland state bird, e.g. : ORIOLE - and the baseball team that plays in Baltimore

3. National capital from the Algonquin for "to trade" : OTTAWA - and the hockey team that's kicking the Penguin's a** in the NHL playoffs right now

5. Commonly long-handled tool : HOE

6. E-card occasions : B-DAYS

7. __ learning : ROTE

8. Divider's opposite : UNITER

9. Metro abbr. : STN - not STA, which slowed down my 15a.

10. Slugfest feature : HIGH SCORE

11. "¿Qué es __?": "What's this?" : ESTO

12. Confident walk : STRUT - in a skirt this short, you'd have to be confident

14. Pico de gallo pepper : SERRANO

16. Cure-all : ELIXIR

20. Having an unusually large yellow part : YOLKY

22. High-end fashion accessory, briefly : YSL BAG - I threw in "--- BRA", and it helped

24. On tap : TO COME

27. Run with abandon : BARREL

28. Sampras rival : AGASSI - more tennis

31. Essentials : BARE BONES

34. Monterey and Montclair, for short : MERCs - the cars, from Ford's Mercury division

35. A's in Hebrew school? : ALEPHs

36. Small stream : RIVULET

44. "That's enough outta you!" : "STOW IT~!" - I filled in stoP it, and that is 5/6 100% correct

46. Texas city near Juárez : EL PASO

47. Toadies : YES MEN

48. "__ Fideles" : ADESTE

50. More angry : SORER

52. Former White House daughter : MALIA - put in SASHA, and then for some reason changed the name to the Obamas' other daughter MILIA....

54. Prefix with drama : MELO - melodrama

56. Reel off : LIST

59. "__ Maria" : AVE

60. __ dos: both : LOS

Splynter

Note from C.C.:

The Indie Spotlight on Crossword Fiend's blog this week featured today's constructor Erik Agard. You can read it here. Erik is also one of the founders of the Indie 500 Crossword Tournament, which will take place this year on June 3, 2017. 

Friday, May 19, 2017, Jeffrey Wechsler

Title: Bart is a brat!

An ambitious Friday from JW that is the second step in my returning to my post as Friday sherpa. It took solving a couple of the theme fill that made the theme obvious. The first word of a known expression becomes an anagram to provide a different and witty definition. All begin with a four letter word with the central AR reversed into RA to create a new phrase. It is most impressive that JW found 5 sets where the first word is a four letter word that works with his theme; they are:

17A. Aging hero Jones, in his latest film? : GRAY (GARY) INDIANA (11). Poor Harrison Ford, killed in Star Wars, dissed in Supergirl by his wife, Calista Flockhart and then he crashes a plane.

24A. Pitt portraying Shakespeare? : BRAD (BARD) OF AVON. (10). I can't picture this.

33A. Skill displayed at the gift counter? : WRAP (WARP) SPEED (9). A fun substitution.

45A. Times when hokey humor prevailed? : ERAS (EARS) OF CORN (10). Or when C. Moe appeared.

54A. Early stage of muffin production? : BRAN (BARN) RAISING (11). My favorite of the theme fill, but I grew up in New England farm country and know barn raising.

Jeffrey also provides a wonderful panoply of non-theme fill...BIG NEWS,  ACROBAT,  DIAMOND, STRASSE,  TEL AVIV,  IN A HOLE,  CABANAS, POINT AT,  WANGLES,  OVERALL,  SARA LEE,  PLANETS,  CRANIAL,  AIRINGS,  DAMAGED, AUSTRIA,  BONKERS,  LESSEES, RIDERS UP,  PEAR TREE

Let us see where else we went.

Across:

1. 1987 Michael Jackson album : BAD. his eventual follow up ALBUM to Thriller.

4. Road where Mozart was born : STRASSE. Street in German and probably Austrian. Research reveals Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on 27 January 1756 to Leopold Mozart (1719–1787) and Anna Maria, née Pertl (1720–1778), at 9 Getreidegasse in Salzburg. Clecho: 43A. Where Mozart was born : AUSTRIA.

11. Recurrent behavior : TIC. Hard for me because tics are involuntary.

14. Henri's here : ICI.    Just French.

15. Identify : POINT AT. Dramatic at a trial, but silly if the defendant is sitting at a table with his/her attorney.

16. "Bambi" doe : ENA. Auntie to Bambi.

19. Sci-fi setting : LAB.

20. "... let __ put asunder": Matthew : NO MAN.

21. Send out : EMIT.

22. Island band The __ Men : BAHA. The Baha Men are a Bahamian band playing a modernized style of Bahamian music called junkanoo. They are best remembered for their Grammy Award-winning hit song Who Let the Dogs Out? wiki.

23. Shakespeare's jet? : EBON. Both jet and ebon are fancy ways to say black.

26. Acquires through cunning : WANGLES. I love this word because it does not sound real.

28. Undefeated Ali : LAILA. Cute; his daughter was undefeated as a boxer.

29. Norm: Abbr. : STD. Standard.

30. His, to Henri : A LUI. More French.

32. "John Wick" star : REEVES. KEANU not GEORGE.

35. Fish-eating raptor : OSPREY. These BIRDS OF PREY are the logical descendant of the dinosaurs.

38. Sassy : PERT. And if you become too sassy, you will be a....

39. Boorish sort : CAD.

42. Sound : VALID. Argument.

49. Loosen (up) : WARM. Is this from muscles or people?

50. Storm : RANT.

51. Settled on a branch : ALIT.

52. Beatle ending : MANIA.

53. Cakes go-with : ALE. Oh how many recall this from a recent JW puzzle?

56. Decide not to stop : LET.

57. Off one's rocker : BONKERS.

58. Vital statistic : AGE.

59. Paul with guitars : LES. He built the first successful electric guitars and his name leads into....

60. Landlord's customers : LESSEES.

61. Ergotamine derivative popular in the '60s : LSD. More of LES. It is my excuse for being crazy. LINK.


Down:

1. Front page material : BIG NEWS.

2. One seen in a ring : ACROBAT. Pretty vague for me, but I understand the clecho.

3. One seen in a ring : DIAMOND. This made it easier.

4. Short drive : SPIN. Never understood this expression, spinning is not what I have in mind when I drive.

5. Lading measure : TON. We all remember our lesson on bills of lading.

6. Kentucky Derby call : RIDERS UP.  LINK.

7. Jungian concept : ANIMA. He had to have his own words, not Freud's  ego, super-ego and id.

8. Solemn : STAID.

9. Introduction to Domingo? : SANTO. Well done, geography.

10. Greek letter : ETA.

11. Mediterranean metropolis : TEL AVIV.

12. Saddled with debt : IN A HOLE.

13. Seaside resort array : CABANAS. VIEW.

18. Half a philosophical duality : YANG. Where is YIN?

22. Called from the field : BAAED. So cute, lamby pie.

24. Fasten, at sea : BELAY. Cute also because of the two definitions. verb
1.(a running rope) around a cleat, pin, rock, or other object, to secure it.
2. nautical slang: stop; enough! "“Belay that, mister. Man your post.”"

25. Groups at sea : FLEETS. More at sea.

27. City on the Rio Grande : LAREDO.  LISTEN. or READ.

31. Net neutrality beneficiary: Abbr. : ISP.

32. Any "Twilight Zone" episode, now : RERUN.

33. Omega holder : WRIST. The watch.

34. Part of a traditional holiday gift : PEAR TREE.

35. From one extreme to the other : OVERALL.

36. Frozen dessert brand : SARA LEE. Nobody does not love Sara Lee.

37. Seven-movement Holst work that omits Earth, with "The" : PLANETS.

39. Like the olfactory nerve, e.g. : CRANIAL.

40. Television fare : AIRINGS.

41. Flawed : DAMAGED.

44. "__ brillig ... " : TWAS. `Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
                                               Did gyre and gimble in the wabe
I had a roommate who was a C student, but could recite the entire poem as well as PI to the 50th place. A little bird told me JW also can recite this poem.

46. Denmark's __ Islands : FAROE. I had no idea. LINK.

47. Highland groups : CLANS.

48. Sounds from pens : OINKS. This little piggy...

52. Pine for : MISS.

54. OPEC unit : BBL. Barrel.

55. "... such stuff / As dreams __ made on": Prospero : ARE. JW squeezes his Friday Shakespeare in at the end.

Well I have stumbled to the finish line once again, hopefully having managed to unravel all of JW's tricks. Great fun...hope you had a good time, Lemonade out.