Saturday, Sep 23rd, 2017, Mark Diehl

Theme: None

Words: 68 (pangram~!)

Blocks: 27

  This one looked like it was going to be brutal, but I must have been on the Mr. Diehl's wavelength, because I ended up sailing through after the first DOWN run.  A lot of my success had to do with being open-minded about two-word answers, and there were a lot of those this week(*).  Several answers were squarely in my wheelhouse, too - like 50a.  A crushing amount of 6-, 7-, and 8-letter answers - nothing longer - and a mere four 3-letter answers.  Here's some corner connector answers;

19. Former Haitian president : ARISTIDE - Unknown, filled via perps; his Wiki

47. Immortal Kiev-born pianist : HOROWITZ - LIBERACE fit, but Bzzzt

10*. D, P or S, on quarters : MINT MARK - I put in MINT CITY, which in retrospect seems odd, if not correct

 31*. Fleming work : SPY NOVEL - gratuitous Daniel Craig as James Bond image for C.C.

ACROSS:

1. The punch in Planter's Punch : ETHANOL - I guess I must be getting sober-er, because ALCOHOL never crossed my mind, even if it was the wrong answer

8*. Set overly easy goals : AIM LOW

14. Disk problem : SCIATICA - my first thought was SCRATCH, like a Compact Disc, but it didn't fit, and so I switched mental gears and figured it referred to one's back

15. Curly-haired "Peanuts" character : FRIEDA - not a big fan of the strip, this filled via perps and a WAG

16. Foreshadows : PORTENDS

17. Like rattlers : FANGED - ah, the snake, not the baby toy

18*. Drawn : IN A TIE - ah, not sketched or saddened

21*. Policy at certain clubs : NO MEN

22. Display some guns : FLEX - the "20-inch biceps" kind of guns; curiosity got the better of me, so I measured my own - a little over 12 inches.  Now you try doing it with a standard metal tape measure....

23. "Wuthering Heights" setting : MOOR

24. Gulf States leader : EMIR

25. Taylor of "American Crime" : LILI

26. Wedding announcement : BANNS - I knew this from doing crosswords, and yet I was unsure of the origin, so I went looking for an answer - here - ironic that one outcome could be that the marriage is "BANNed"

27. It's in many poems : 'TIS

28. Sachet filler : LAVENDER - FRAGRANCE was too long

30*. Informal passing remark? : 'SCUSE ME

32*. Repository for spare or unused parts : JUNK BOX - more likely to be a junk DRAWER around here

36*. Cheerleading outfit? : PEP SQUAD - nailed it (and that helped a lot because I am familiar with 37d.)

38. Lummox : APE - oops, not OAF

39. Covered carriages : SHAYS

42. Reverse of a knit : PURL - the 'mechanics' of knitting, if you will

43. Selfish sort : USER

44. Be the first to say : COIN - I "coined"  STOG two weeks ago, and Dennis gave us "clecho" long before I got here

45. Pâté base : FOIE

46. Month after diciembre : ENERO - good guess on my part

49. Company whose name appears in an odometer in its logo : CARFAX

50. Commonly seen brown vehicle : UPS VAN - my UPS days are numbered, one way or another - I have come to the conclusion that the benefits are not worth the aggravation, and the pay is pitiful; I've already got an interview set up on Monday - it's at 9:30am, so I guess I'll have to take the day from UPS....

51. Gross out : NAUSEATE

53. It may be rolled up on a farm : SLEEVE

54. Like the praying mantis : ONE-EARED

55. In Tupperware, say : SEALED - clever; I got it

56. Ready to ride : SADDLED - I just got "saddled" with a $60 "use tax" on my work van's registration; what, I need to pay more to USE my registration~?

DOWN:

1. Cost-effective : ECONOMIC

2. Dessert with a kick : TIRAMISU

3. Mad __ : HATTER

4*. Took courses at home : ATE IN - meals, not school courses

5. West Coast ZIP starter : NINE - the show "90210" (CA) helped here; goes all the way to Bellingham WA, 98229 and beyond

6. Neatnik's possible condition, briefly : OCD - Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

7. Mississippi explorer : LaSALLE - perps

8. Tack on : AFFIX - I had ANNEX; 100% 40% correct

9. Line 32 items on 1040 forms : IRAs

11. Vast multitude : LEGION

12*. Had way too much of : ODed ON - life itself

Blue Öyster Cult

13. Angler's gear : WADERS

14. Grand children? : SPINETS - piano offspring~?

20. Pull over, say? : RE-INJURE - think 'pull a muscle', again

22*. Fin : FIVE SPOT - cash, moola, money

25. Lighter : LAMP - I don't associate light-er with lamp, but I guess I'll just have to.... 

26. Give a little : BEND

28. Wranglers alternative : LEES - jeans

29. Part of DINK : DUAL - Income, No Kids

33. Ride cost before taxes and such : BASE FARE

34. Ran : OPERATED

35. Ran off : XEROXED - Scrabbly

37. Subway alternative : QUIZNO'S - hero sandwich shops

39. Speed down a slope : SCHUSS

40. Rockers Mott the __ : HOOPLE

41*. Like some offshore rescues : AIR/SEA

43. "Are you kidding me?!" : UNREAL

45. Punished in court, in a way : FINED

46. Let up : EASED

48. Parade greeting : WAVE - my parents were born and raised in England, so....

Aye up, me duck~!

49. Helped on stage : CUED

52. Literary assortment : ANA - learned from doing crosswords

Splynter

Friday, September 22, 2017, Jeffrey Wechsler

Title: The LA Times has gone to the dogs.

JW is back with one of his whimsical puzzles. There is no conventional theme, but a common denominator. The clues all reference noisy dogs. Each in the language phrase has one word changed. The changes are simple and the results fun. If you do not see the humor you will not enjoy the puzzle. Some of the clues are not easily sussed, but this is a Friday puzzle. Also, before excoriating the constructor, bear in mind that a large percentage of clues are changed by the editors. Meanwhile Jeffrey did include the very sparkly fill -BELLY RUB, QUICK SET, RAN AFTER, TOM JONES, I'M NOT READY.  The theme:

21A. Hogwarts chronicler imitating noisy dogs? : J.K. GROWLING (10). Gee, this is the simplest one to grok.

26A. Devices that record data on noisy dogs? : BARKING METERS (13). My favorite change - parking meters - where doggies mark their territory.

47A. Photographer of noisy dogs? : YIPPER SNAPPER (13). I heard the term whipper snapper often as a child.

52A. Paintings depicting noisy dogs? : WORKS OF ARF (10). The ART of the woof woof.

Across: 

1. Hubbub : STIR.

5. Thompson of "Westworld" : TESSA. Not a great start for me as I never have watched that series. She has had a busy CAREER and is pretty.

10. One way to lean : BACK. Not a political comment. Hmm, 19A. Reclined : LAIN.

14. Stephen Hawking subject : TIME. He has persevered in life despite the effects of ALS. READ.

15. Tough tests of knowledge : ORALS.

16. Offer the same opinion as : ECHO. I think they must now pay a royalty to Amazon.

17. Princess Royal of Britain : ANNE.This is a formal title which she received in 1987. LINK.

18. -, at times : MINUS.

20. Setup provider's abbr. : BYOB. Bring Your Own Bottle.

23. Like many deli orders : TO GO.

25. Western peer of Tex and Gene : ROY. Rogers.

32. Part of XL: Abbr. : LGE.

33. Toon cat since the silent era : FELIX. The first animated STAR  with an amazing history.

34. Reacts to bad news, perhaps : SULKS.

37. War-torn land : IRAQ. There are many such lands, sadly.

39. More rational : SANER.

41. All in : BEAT. Not an easy meaning to suss, the poker implications kept invading my thought.

42. St. Anthony's home : PADUA. You can read about this MAN. The first Catholic school in Fort Lauderdale is St. Anthony's.

44. It's not exactly a pick-me-up : DECAF.

46. Airport approx. : ETA.

50. Disney Store collectible : CEL.

51. Semi bar : AXLE. Semi truck.

58. First name in folk : ARLO. Hasn't he faded into oblivion yet?

61. Choppers : AXES.

62. Stop by : VISIT.

63. Printer function : SCAN. Copy, scan, fax and print - an all in one work station.

64. News article intro : LEDE. A total learning moment.  LINK.

65. Gradually weaken : ERODE. Another correct answer but difficult to suss.

66. It can be hard to get out of : MAZE. I like the combination with the clecho....

67. It can be hard to get out : KNOT.

68. Call attention (to) : REFER.

69. Bellicose god : ARES.


Down:

1. Attempt : STAB. C'mon take a chance.

2. Like a mite : TINY.

3. "Give me a few minutes" : I'M NOT READY. How many couples argue over the time it takes to get ready?

4. Adidas subsidiary : REEBOK. I linked the purchase of Reebok before.

5. He beat out Sonny and Cher and Herman's Hermits, among others, for the Best New Artist Grammy : TOM JONES. An interesting LIST. We watched Peter Noone in concert last year and he was great.

6. Christine's phantom admirer : ERIK. The popularity of the play and musical has inspired people to write their own ENDING.

7. Emulated 5-Down : SANG.

8. Nasty comment : SLUR. Comes, I believe, from the slurry left over from coal etc.

9. Categorize : ASSORT. In 2017 we mostly sort, but we still buy assorted cookies etc.

10. Source of much canine delight : BELLY RUB. A bonus doggy fill. And a classic example of a gif. See 24D.

11. Nutritious berry : ACAI.

12. Gym exercise : CHIN. verb 1. draw one's body up so as to bring one's chin level with or above (a horizontal bar) with one's feet off the ground, as an exercise. I always add the "UP."

13. Giant film primate : KONG. The King.

22. Burdens : WOES.

24. Desktop animation image suffix : GIF. HG introduced this handy link style to our blog.

26. Control tower signal : BLIP. On the radar screen.

27. Indian shrine site : AGRA. Taj Mahal anyone? LINK.

28. Forest clearing : GLADE.

29. Member of the underground economy? : MINER. This clue/fill sounds like JW's wit. My favorite in this puzzle.

30. CFOs, e.g. : EXECS.

31. Orient Express feature : SLEEPER CAR. As I mentioned, another movie based on Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot. I do not know why because you cannot beat David Suchet.

35. Shakespeare's shrew : KATE. Very un-pc to talk of taming one's wife now.

36. Vega, for one : STAR. Or a Chevrolet.

38. Cement type for home repairs : QUICK SET. My Uncle Harold was a mason, and taught masonry at the local trade school. He showed me how to use this product on the small jobs, as well as the difference between cement and concrete..

40. Pursued vigorously : RAN AFTER.

43. Homo sapiens relatives : APES. Do you like the re-imagination of the Planet of the Apes movies?

45. 63-Across alternative : FAX.

(space left intentionally blank)


48. Small wading bird : PLOVER.

49. State of matter : PLASMA.

52. Constitutional : WALK.                                                              

53. Strong farm team : OXEN.

54. Overhaul : REDO.

55. Gift from Prometheus : FIRE. Prometheus (/prəˈmiːθiəs/ prə-MEE-thee-əs; Greek: Προμηθεύς [promɛːtʰeús], meaning "forethought") is a Titan in Greek mythology, best known as the deity in Greek mythology who was the creator of mankind and its greatest benefactor, who stole fire from Mount Olympus and gave it to mankind. wiki.

56. Beginning : AS OF.

57. Play polo, say : RIDE.

59. Relax : LAZE.

60. Word that can replace "your" : ONES. I hear that use with "opinions."

 A different offering, with lots of JW's wit on display.  I am curious how those who don't like themes which are hard to grasp will react to this effort. I had fun, hope you all did. I think of crosswords as entertainment. L'shanah tovah -Happy New Year to those who celebrate the coming of year 5778. Lemonade out.

Note from C.C.:

Here is the latest picture of Lemonade's cute grand-kids at the grocery store:

 Harper, Owen and Charlotte

Thursday, September 21st 2017 C.C.Burnikel

Theme: "King of Horror" - to celebrate Stephen King's 70th birthday, four of his very extensive fiction catalog begin the four theme entries:

17A. Measurement based on inflation and unemployment rates : MISERY INDEX. For 2016 Venezuela was ranked most miserable and Japan least miserable.The US was ranked towards the least miserable end of the scale.

24A. "Postcards From the Edge" author : CARRIE FISHER. Sadly, recently passed.

38A. Smart comment? : IT HURTS. Nice! Smart in the lemon-juice-in-the-nick-in-your-finger sense.

52A. Semipermeable biological barrier : CELL MEMBRANE. Osmosis: "a process by which molecules of a solvent tend to pass through a semipermeable membrane from a less concentrated solution into a more concentrated one, thus equalizing the concentrations on each side of the membrane.". Phew.

and the reveal:

62A. Author born 9/21/1947 who penned the starts of 17-, 24-, 38- and 52-Across : STEPHEN KING

C.C.'s tribute to Stephen King on his birthday. The reveal did nothing to help me, as I've mentioned before, I don't do horror books nor movies, they scare me to death and make me cry. I saw "The Exorcist", "The Omen" and "Carrie" in short order in my youth. I slept with the lights on for about a year, and even now I can't listen to Side 2 of "Tubular Bells".

Fun puzzle, crunchy Thursday cluing and a couple of trademark long downs - and A-ROD making an appearance on C.C.'s watch.

Let's see what else we've got to talk about:

Across:

1. Hopped out of bed : AROSE. Oh, the energy of youth. I stagger out of bed nowadays, stumble on a good day on the way to go hike.

6. Challenge for Santa's dry-cleaner : SOOT. I remember as a small boy asking my mother if we were getting our chimneys swept in time for Christmas. Then we got central heat installed, and I could not figure out how Santa was going to get into the house.

10. Medicine __, Alberta : HAT. Nailed it!

13. OPEC, for one : CARTEL

15. Radius neighbor : ULNA. Arm-bone pairing.

16. Sworn statement : I DO. "... the truth, the whole truth and nothing but .."

19. X, at times : TEN

20. Tesla Motors co-founder Musk : ELON. Space-X bloke too. He seems to know his tech. Did you see that Tesla came in for a lot of flak when they remotely "turned on" the extra mileage range capability of the cheaper models for drivers evacuating Florida in advance of Hurricane Irma?

21. "Inside Politics" channel : CNN

22. Poet laureate, e.g. : TITLE. My favorite UK Poet Laureate was Ted Hughes, a surprising choice as his poetry was often about subjects such as dead carrion and lines such as:

"... Till, with a sudden sharp hot stink of fox

It enters the dark hole of the head."

Not exactly the stuff of "Happy Birthday to the Queen" poems, a requirement of the Laureate.

28. Where Moses received the Ten Commandments, for short : MT. SINAI

31. Colorful fall tree : MAPLE

32. Put together : BUILT

33. Instagram upload, briefly : PIC. Apparently I have an Instagram account, which comes as something of a surprise considering I've never used it.

34. Three-time A.L. MVP : A-ROD. The first with the Texas Rangers, the subsequent two with the Yankees.

37. "Is there more?" : AND?

42. Baja she-bear : OSA. OSO is he-bear. A bunch of bears of mixed sexes are OSOS, the plural takes the male form. Can you tell I've been paying attention in Spanish class?

43. Understands : SEES

45. Solar wind particle : ION

46. Song of worship : PSALM

48. Off-white color : PEARL. I tried PEACH first, mentally justifying this highly curious solution to the fact that there are white peaches. I question my decision-making sometimes.

50. It may be reckless : ABANDON

55. Big glitch : SNAFU. I think it was last week we had the conversation about the meaning of the "F".

56. Inhospitable : ICY

57. 2000s Chevy : AVEO. Thank you crosses, never paid attention to one.

61. Signature piece? : PEN and ink. My signature is now a couple of wiggles and a line tailing off

66. Biblical craft : ARK

67. Roof edge : EAVE

68. "Mad About You" co-star : REISER. Thank you, crosses.

69. "But, mom!" evokers : "NO"S

70. Zoomed : SPED

71. Drumroll drum : SNARE

Down:

1. Top : ACME

2. Scenic overlook safety feature : RAIL. There's a lot of these on Mulholland Drive a the top of Hollywood Hills near me. It still doesn't stop cars plunging off the road, there's generally an incident every couple of years.

3. Driving directions qualifier : OR SO. "Make a right, then go half a mile or so and it's on the left. Oh wait, no. Make a LEFT, then go a quarter mile or so, then it's on the RIGHT. No, wait ...". Thank goodness Google Maps is more precise.

4. Sign maker's aid : STENCIL

5. Always, in sonnets : E'ER

6. Denomination of most Iraqi Kurds : SUNNI

7. Unlike spring chickens : OLD. Hand up. See 1A for bed-staggering.

8. Person : ONE

9. Advice for an e-filer : TAX TIP

10. Get going : HIT THE ROAD. Cue Ray Charles

11. One-named "All I Ask" singer : ADELE. Sorry, Ms. Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, Ray just snuck in with my music link for the day.

12. Skin care product : TONER

14. Sports bra fabric : LYCRA

18. Cross characters : INRI. Christian imagery.

23. Land surrounded by agua : ISLA. Yay! More Spanish!

25. Not pro : ANTI

26. Bahrain bigwig : EMIR

27. One of John Adams' "stubborn things" : FACT. "Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." Smart chap, that Adams fella.

28. Corp. execs' degrees : MBAS

29. Use a fork, perhaps : TUNE. I have a tuning fork in E to tune my guitars to concert pitch. I never use it, the electronic ones are quicker.

30. Exercises that strengthen obliques : SIDE PLANKS. I came across the most bizarre leotard design ever when I went to look for an example of the side plank. I can't not use it.

33. "Sign language is pretty handy," e.g. : PUN

35. Nobel Prize city : OSLO

36. Butler's last word : DAMN. That's when he dropped the teapot in her Ladyship's lap. It was his last word before he was fired. Or, it might have been "Gone with the Wind". Perhaps.

39. Flag : TIRE

40. "Chariots of Fire" Oscar nominee Ian : HOLM. He played the legendary athletics coach Sam Mussabini.

41. Time period : SPAN

44. __-service : SELF

47. Enter surreptitiously :  SNEAK IN

49. Makes giggle : AMUSES

50. Cat's back shape, at times : ARCH. Accompanied by hissing, if said cat is riled about something.

51. Tylenol rival : BAYER

52. Political channel : C-SPAN

53. Calendario month : ENERO. Nailed it! I can confidently recite them all now.

54. Two-footer : BIPED

58. Authorization to enter a country : VISA. I first came here on an H1B visa which allowed me to work, but only for the company who sponsored me. Mutterings of "Indentured Servitude" accompanied bad days at work.

59. Fed. power dept. : ENER.

60. Barbarian : OGRE

63. __ water : TAP

64. Holiday threshold : EVE

65. Nintendo's Super __ console : NES. All together everyone: "Nintendo Entertainment System".

Cue the grid!

Steve

Wednesday, September, 20, 2017, Roger and Kathy Wienberg

TITLE: If I had a dime for every time I got distracted, I wish I had a puppy!

Roger and Kathy have given us assembled masses a lovely entry in the Wednesday sweepstakes. Their puzzle celebrates SCATTERBRAINS among us and who better to represent this stereotype than this lovable character who was a truly savvy business person but played her wacky alter ego to perfection.

How the Wienberg's physically did this is shown below as B  R  A  I  N is scattered among the long entries in the grid. I include the grid in the event your medium did not carry the circles.

The reveal shows the gimmick clearly:

53. Forgetful person literally indicated by this puzzle's circles : SCATTER BRAIN

Theme Entries:

19. Bulb that's more sweet than pungent : BERMUDA ONION - What a great home for one!

31. Basic two-element computation : BINARY OPERATION This $1.50 calculator has the four basic BINARY OPERATION keys neatly nested on the right. Those of us that had to use a slide rule rue the fact we never had one of these.

39. Concern for a marketing department : PUBLIC RELATIONS - Their job:

Now for the balance of Roger and Kathy's very focused humpday offering:

Across

1. Helps illegally : ABETS

6. "London Fields" writer Martin : AMIS - Friends in Paris too easy for Wednesday?

10. Serengeti grazer : GNU

13. French name meaning "born again" : RENEE

14. Goal-oriented suburban parent? : SOCCER MOM - Jennifer Lawrence's life before movies intervened

17. Mexican pyramid builder : AZTEC - I have difficulty even pronouncing Tenochtitlan

18. Late with one's payments : IN ARREARS

21. Scheming : SLY

22. Quarterback Dawson : LEN

23. Renewable fuel made from organic matter : BIOGAS - Collecting BIOGAS from a well drilled into a landfill

27. Crow's cry : CAW

28. Building guideline : SPEC

30. Tokyo, long ago : EDO

36. "Want the light __ not?" : ON OR

37. "Golly!" : GEE

38. Good-sized backyard : ACRE - One ACRE lots in Clinton, Utah

44. One of the Galápagos, e.g.: Abbr. : ISL. - Where Darwin changed the world

45. Fed a line to : CUED - ...or not to be! ...or not to be!

46. Cartoon frame : CEL

47. Balance precariously : TEETER

49. Justice Dept. division : DEA


50. Car stat with city and hwy. components : MPG - 8 MPG for a 1959 Caddy was no big deal with $.25/gal gas

57. Fundraising portmanteau : WALK-A-THON - I got swamped with requests at school

60. "You Don't Join Us, We Join You" insurance company : AETNA

61. "Monday Night Football" airer before ESPN : ABC SPORTS - When football morphed into show biz

62. Lingering looks : GAZES

63. Deleted, with "out" : XED - MLK advisor Wyatt King advised him to X OUT the "Dream" part of speech since it was so trite and cliche

64. Scheme : RUSE

65. Wade noisily : SLOSH


Down

1. Many Mideast natives : ARABS

2. Chisel's cutting edge : BEZEL

3. Contest submission : ENTRY

4. Abound (with) : TEEM - These signs are a hot property these days

5. Not connected to the church : SECULAR

6. From Thailand, say : ASIAN

7. Like old records : MONO

8. "__ See for Miles": The Who : I CAN 

9. Metal-marking tool : SCRIBER

10. "Today" rival, familiarly : GMA

11. Fish-fowl link : NOR

12. Hesitation sounds : UMS - Don't use it here!

15. Beethoven's Third : EROICA - Italian for hero

16. Nevada city near Tahoe : RENO - Lots of wedding rings got thrown in the Truckee River there 

20. Like morning grass : DEWY

24. Company with "save you 15%" ads : GEICO

25. Beautify : ADORN

26. Loudness units : SONES

27. Astronomer Sagan : CARL

28. Ignore the limit : SPEED 

29. Spa treatment : PEEL - Sounds painful

31. Hasbro game requiring quick reflexes : BOP IT
'

32. Unavailable : IN USE - Talk about yer IN USE!

33. Duke or duchess : NOBLE - Royal blood doesn't cut much for me

34. Fairy tale brute : OGRE

35. Elongated comet part : TAIL  - An astronomy prof once told me that the tail of a comet is as close to being nothing and still being something as there is

40. Arctic covering : ICE CAP

41. Museum manager : CURATOR

42. Big name in PCs : ACER 

43. Lipton pouches : TEA BAGS - Some on this site would never consider one of these methods

48. Disdainful clicks : TSKS

49. Like thick fog : DENSE

50. Passover cracker : MATZO

51. Needle bearers : PINES - Pine Wilt has killed millions of trees around here

52. Grind, as teeth : GNASH -The phrase "(there shall be) weeping and gnashing of teeth" (in the original Greek ὁ κλαυθμὸς καὶ ὁ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων) appears seven times in the New Testament as a description of the torments of the damned in Hell.

54. Drive-__ window : THRU

55. Youngsters : TOTS

56. Legitimate : REAL

57. Car wash extra : WAX

58. Prez in a stovepipe hat : ABE - Abe's stovepipe hat he wore to Ford's Theater on April, 14, 1865 with the black mourning ban for his dead son Willie. This hat was not put on display until 1893 at the Smithsonian 

59. Type of TV display : LCD

SCATTERBRAINS and regular ones are now welcome to opine: