Saturday, April 7, 2018, Claire Muscat

A THEMELESS SATURDAY PUZZLE BY CLAIRE MUSCAT ON NATIONAL BEER DAY 

Claire Muscat has brewed up a wonderful Saturday puzzle for us on this festive holiday! I skated around from section to section and eventually I ran out of cells to fill in. The "S" in SCRAP PAPER and STEAD earned for me a highly desired "got 'er done!"

As often happens to me I got off to a 11. What you might get on a day off : SLOW START (Those are my faster solver friends ahead of me) but slow and steady carried the day!

Two triple stacks of ten's were impressive, helpful and "gettable". Now let's see what else Claire has for us this first Saturday of April where we it is snowing here on the Great Plains!

Across

1. Where thoughts can be organized : SCRAP PAPER - I've put some important phone numbers on the backs of some receipts I found near the phone

11. __ punk: No Doubt genre : SKA and 37. "It's Raining __": The Weather Girls hit : MEN - Neither are on my iPhone playlist

14. Not go off-script : TOE THE LINE - A mantra for members of Congress if they want reelection money or  committee chairmanships

15. Zero-star fare : GLOP

16. They're hidden annually : EASTER EGGS - We asked our daughter if our 15 year-old grandson and 12-yr-oldgranddaughter still wanted an EASTER EGG hunt at Papa's. The answer was YES even on a dreary Easter Sunday.

17. Holds up : ROBS

18. Got into a pickle? : ATE - Not in the baseball sense 

19. Xi preceders : NUS - Or 19. Belonging to the Huskers - NU'S

20. Kind of baseball league for pre-Little Leaguers : PEE WEE - Add your own caption

Is your team ahead or behind?

22. Duplicates : DITTOS - Do you know this movie where Patrick Swayze couldn't say I love you back to Demi Moore but rather said this

24. Dogs follow them : SCENTS - Cool Hand Luke used pepper to throw them off the trail


26. Ruled by thieves : KLEPTOCRATIC - A new word to me but pretty easy to suss out as I am sure you all did. Many of our African UBER drivers in D.C. claimed this is what was going on in their countries where leaders are stealing all the money and commoners get nothing 

30. Like some restaurant boxes : TO GO - Guilty! I have added TO GO when ordering at a drive thru

33. Crispy triangle : DORITO

34. One of two possible Passover mos. : APR or Mar

35. Indignant reply : I DO SO - Playground patter

38. Sip : NURSE - What I would do with a $20 cocktail

40. Charge : FEE - Where they abound

41. Lost control in a big way : RIOTED

44. Throw below deck, say : STOW

45. Bolo ties or bell-bottoms : FASHION CRAZE- What? They're not popular now? Next thing you know they'll say the same about my Nehru jacket!

48. "Camptown Races" refrain syllables : DOO DAH - Perhaps where you might have least expected it. (I would have posted the entire clip but it has "that N word" in it.)

49. Brick partner : MORTAR

53. Graduates : ALUMNI This blog has many of them with a degree in  9. University dept. : ENG

55. One using bugs : SPY

56. Media co. based in D.C. and Fla. : UPI

57. Best Actress between Jennifer and Julianne : CATE - The $35,000 Hermes bag Cate Blanchett carried in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine was worth more that the entire costume budget for the rest of  the film

58. Targets : ZEROES IN ON

62. Building blocks for tots : ABC'S

63. They take forever : ETERNITIES 

64. Kinda equivalent : ISH - I consider myself "OldISH" 

65. "Quit it with the attitude!" : DON'T SASS ME


Down

1. Begin to fast? : STEAD - Horton was STEADfast and stayed on Mayzie's egg through all manner of difficulties 

2. Raccoon kin : COATI - I can see the family resemblance 

3. Start over : RESET -Kids soon learn that real life doesn't have that button like their games do

4. Grisham hero, often: Abbr. : ATT - An ATTorney not the communication giant

5. Carbolic acid : PHENOL - In very dilute amounts, it is used in many household cleaners and mouthwash

6. Read carefully : PERUSED - Senators like Rand Paul were given 30 hours to PERUSE the 2,322 page Omnibus Budget bill

7. They may be blonde or red : ALES - They must have stayed up nights thinking up these names

8. Glutton : PIG

10. Franklin spelled it out : RESPECT - Tell me again why anyone else should sing this song

12. Laker great, familiarly : KOBE - Bryant

13. Arcing recess : APSE - I grabbed him in the APSE by the organ

15. Former Fox News anchor Van Susteren : GRETA - GRETA famously underwent plastic surgery during her career

21. 2001 scandal subject : ENRON - Bankrupted my uncle

23. Ring stats : TKO'S

24. Extend : STRETCH

25. Expression maker : COINER - We have COINED quite a few words here at the corner, e.g. Clecho

27. College in Claremont, California : POMONA - POMONA has joined athletically with Pitzer College and competes as the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens (smart chickens?)

28. __ jure: by the law itself : IPSO - by operation of the law is a phrase used to describe an automatic change in a legal situation that is a consequence of some other action or some other failure to act.  You're welcome.

29. Word with neck or cut : CREW

30. Row : TIFF

31. Ancient performance halls : ODEA - Here's one on the edge of the agora in Thessaloniki 

32. Shares expenses, in a way : GOES DUTCH - I haven't dated since LBJ was president. Is this a common practice now?

36. Star-studded hunter : ORION - My favorite constellation 

39. Intervention target : USER 


42. Like much table salt : IODIZED - Iodine was originally added to prevent goiters 

43. Depresses : DAMPENS - Every group has "that person" who can bring everyone down

46. Development units : HOMES - My fair city is proposing putting 400 of them in a very small area just across the street from us

47. Lawn grass genus : ZOYSIA - This "warm weather" grass is better suited in southern climes as it hates winter

50. Arab Spring city : TUNIS - This was triggered by a fruit vendor's desperate act against an oppressive government. Google at your own risk to see what he did if you have forgotten.

51. "__ begins in delight and ends in wisdom": Frost : A POEM - A lovely sentiment

52. Certain cycle : RINSE - Just show me where to turn it on!

53. Antioxidant-rich berry : ACAI - Vowels, vowels vowels!

54. Chocolates, e.g. : LABS - Our neighbor had a hyper active Golden LABrador who had to be given to a friend with a farm and lots of land

55. Kind : SORT - "What SORT of person are you?" There is a wrong answer! 😏

59. WWII arena : ETO - Despite Stalin's pleas for America to open a front in Western Europe, America opened its European/African Theater of Operations in North Africa in 1942

60. Han and Leia's son Kylo __ : REN - Okay

61. "__ a date!" : IT'S - Let's do this all again next Saturday!

Pertinent and impertinent remarks now welcome:

DA GRID

Friday, April 6, 2018, James Sajdak

Title: Let me have the exact change.

James is back on Friday for the first time in a couple of years. I first blogged him in 2011 the same day C.C. posted the INTERVIEW she did with him. This is his 30th LAT publication and he has no consistent style, either in themes or themeless. Like last week we are dealing with puns and humor. While this theme was not as much fun, the rest of the puzzle was wonderful. We have a few spectacular words, GIBRALTAR, SASQUATCH, AFICIONADO and TOM FOOLERY. We also have so much information and wit, I am going to move on the the write up.

20A. Salute in an old orbiter?: MIR FORMALITY (12). Mere formality.

35A. Stadium scene after a big win?: TIERS OF JOY (10). Tears of joy.

42A. Fishing parties?: PIER GROUPS (10). Peer group.

57A. Edward Scissorhands' syndrome?: SHEAR MADNESS (12). Sheer madness.

Across:

1. Disagreement: SPAT.

5. Her first speaking role was in MGM's "Anna Christie": GARBO. 88 years ago.

10. Unlikely: SLIM. My chances were slim and none.

14. Fashion designer Rabanne: PACO.  This is not his real NAME.

15. Cold shoulder or hot corner: IDIOM. This was fun misdirection, as both are idiomatic.

16. Elizabeth of "Jacob's Ladder": PENA.

17. Wee bit: ATOM.

18. It might be uncured: BACON. Not my area of expertise.

19. Plant with hips: ROSE. I used to drink the tea.

23. Arizona neighbor: SONORA.

24. Former SETI funder: NASA.

25. Pokémon Go finder: Abbr.: GPS. I have watched these crazies running around 'capturing' the various Pokémon. My boys were more Dragonball Z, but they did have some Pocket Monsters.

28. Spa supplies: OILS. Massage or painting?

30. African megalopolis: CAIRO.

32. Nonstick kitchen product: T-FAL. I have never owned any from this COMPANY.

39. Normandy river: ORNE. Not one of the 12 common crossword rivers but a big deal nonetheless. LINK.

40. Foil firm: ALCOA. Will always be tinfoil in my mind even though I know it is aluminum.

41. It borders both the Missouri and the Mississippi rivers: IOWA. More rivers.

44. Early Disney productions: CELS. Cartoons.

45. __ del Carmen, Mexico: PLAYA. Beach

46. Distant beginning?: EQUI.

48. Photog's choice: SLR.  Single-Lens Reflex camera.

49. Org. offering shelter for some homeless: SPCA.

53. It merged with Chevron in 2005: UNOCAL.

59. Chain part: ISLE.

62. 1975 Pulitzer winner for criticism: EBERT. 1975: Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, "for his film criticism during 1974"

63. Old film dog: ASTA. Back again; do you remember the actor?

64. Catty reply: MEOW. and the clecho 67A. Cat catchers: PAWS.

65. __ attack: PANIC.

66. Flit: DART.

68. Seriously reduce: SLASH. Like prices, not to be confused with 43D. Wicked slice: GASH. Not Tiger's driving at the Masters but a long deep slash, cut, or wound.

69. Prizes in los Juegos Olímpicos: OROS. Gold medals.

Down:

1. Bombards with e-junk: SPAMS.

2. Deck alternative: PATIO.

3. Nut with a cap: ACORN.

4. Nonsense: TOMFOOLERY. Another great fill that has such a great LINK.

5. Iberian peninsula territory: GIBRALTAR. You could LEARN more.

6. Economist Smith: ADAM. The FATHER of economics.

7. Puerto __: RICAN.

8. Half an Ivy cheer: BOOLA. The Cheer from 1901.
Boola boola, boola boola
Boola boola, boola boola
When we rough house poor old hahvahd
They will holler, “Boola boo”
Oh Yale, Eli Yale!  Oh Yale, Eli Yale!
Oh Yale, Eli Yale!  Oh Yale, Eli Yale!

9. Dodges of old: OMNIS.

10. Agile: SPRY

11. Uncle on "Seinfeld": LEO

12. Advantages for job seekers: INS

13. Novelist Rita __ Brown: MAE. A writer for CED and our other cat lovers, her mysteries are solved by cats. But she is so much more, and a Florida Gator as well. WIKI.

21. "He's mine, __ am his":"Coriolanus": OR I. A Friday Shakespeare - Scene X, page 218.

22. Stand snack: TACO

25. Boy toy?: GI JOE.  A great fun clue.

26. Lurk: PROWL.

27. Milk sources: SOYAS. My bride like soymilk.

29. Prairie skyline feature: SILO.

31. Buff: AFICIONADO.  It was a mid 19th century (denoting a devotee of bullfighting): from Spanish, ‘amateur,’ past participle of aficioner ‘become fond of’ used as a noun, based on Latin affectio(n-) ‘(favorable) disposition toward’ (see affection).

32. Name on collectible cards: TOPPS. They made some headlines a few years ago. NASTY.

33. Bell or whistle?: FRILL. Something added on.

34. At hand, poetically: ANEAR. I wish this afar.

36. Old French coin: ECU. Not the sou.

37. It's often skipped: ROPE. really cute.

38. Cryptozoologist's quarry: SASQUATCH. And any other of the CRYPTIDS.

47. Conjunction in a German article: UND. An article in a newspaper article. Witty.

50. Buds, slangily: PEEPS. Almost timely. Try THESE.

51. Band of intrigants: CABAL. The intigrants (those who makes secret plans to do something illicit or detrimental to someone else) get together and form a cabal - a secret political clique or faction.

52. Concert setting: ARENA

54. Romero who played The Joker: CESAR. With Adam West. LINK.

55. Dog in Orbit City: ASTRO.

56. Exams for future attys.: LSATS. Actually, it is only a test for future law students.

57. Susie-shirts tongue-twister link: SEWS.  60D. Sells-shells tongue-twister link: SEA. Suzi sells seashells by the seashore. Maybe. LINK.

58. Hosp. tests: MRIS.

59. Little demon: IMP.

61. Bit of cowspeak: LOW. I am not familiar with the term, but I got the idea.

That was a loaded baked potato of a puzzle and I had so much trouble with getting it ready, so forgive me if I just say, thank you, James, all who come to the Corner and phew! Lemonade out.

Thursday, April 5th 2018 Winston Emmons

Theme: No RE-veal - common phrases get a RE- tacked onto the beginning for a punning new phrase. No reveal entry in the puzzle.

20A. Meal owed to President Clinton? : REPAST DUE BILL

28A. Employing echo in audio? : REVERB USAGE. Here's a reverb - pretty, eh?

48A. Rules for righting wrongs? : REDRESS CODE

58A. Mail about system improvements? : REFORM LETTERS.

This looks like an LAT debut for Winston, so congratulations if it is! There's been a couple of debutants recently. I found one puzzle from Winston in the CHE, and one in Wall Street Journal, so he''s not a total rookie.

Enjoyable theme - some punning puzzles come across as groan-worthy, and not in a good way. This one was nice - the original phrases are solidly in the language, and the modified ones are fun. Some nice longer downs and the rest of the fill smooth. A good job all round.

Let's see what attracts attention;

Across:

1. Farm unit : BALE. I was tempted with ACRE, but resisted diving straight in.

5. "Uh, don't forget about me ... " : AHEM

9. Selling point : ASSET

14. Soon, quaintly : ANON. I'm not sure if this sounds quaint:

I see that you will start carving me anon, and take me to Monmouth's camp in sections.

Micah Clarke 

Arthur Conan Doyle 

15. Diamond corner : BASE. The diamond misdirection always gets me, I was thinking facets and what-not.

16. Busch Gardens city : TAMPA. Tried MIAMI at first, thought about it, took it out. There used to be one in Van Nuys, near to where I live now.

17. USAF plane for small runways : STOL. Short Take-Off and Landing. VTOL ones can go straight up.

18. Word of proof? : ERAT Quod Erat Demonstrandum.

19. Video game based on a film, e.g. : TIE-IN

23. Help : ASSIST

24. __ bran : OAT

25. PC-to-PC system : LAN. Local Area Network.

32. River to the North Sea : ELBE. A North Sea river pair today, there's another one waiting further down.

36. "Blue Bloods" rank: Abbr. : DET. Detective.

37. Devotee : ADORER. Not a fan of the word, but it's valid. I'd never use it in conversation though.

38. Northeast gubernatorial family name : CUOMO. Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York since 2011, which I where I happen to be sitting right now high above Lexington Avenue, and his father, Mario, who held the same office for three terms.

40. Paris café brew : THÉ. Tea. The elegant sounding "une tasse de thé" doesn't have the same ring to it as "a nice cuppa" to my English ears. Nice Cuppa from the Corner will agree.

42. African antelope : ELAND

43. Get in : ARRIVE

45. "__ Believer": Monkees hit : I'M A. Composed by Neil Diamond and first recorded in 1966 by The Monkees. Mickey Dolenz sang the lead. Catchy little ditty. I can't figure out how Davey Jones manages to dance like that. It looks like his top half is disconnected from the bottom half, and his legs are independently wealthy.

47. __-bitty : ITTY

51. WWII general : DDE. Dwight D. Eisenhower.

52. Map abbr. : RTE.

53. Bun, for one : HAIRDO

62. Like gymnasts : AGILE. That's an understatement

64. Camping stuff : GEAR

65. Every which way : AMOK

66. Wash cycle : RINSE

67. One-named supermodel : EMME

68. Nutrition bar with a crescent moon in its logo : LUNA. Seems logical.

69. Like pet hamsters : CAGED

70. Conciliatory gestures : SOPS

71. North Sea feeder : YSER Partner entry to 32A

Down:

1. Southeastern Iraqi port : BASRA

2. Dealer's requests : ANTES. "Ante up, fellas!" Poker dealer's call.

3. Circuitous routes : LOOPS

4. Zhou of China : EN LAI

5. Helped in a job, perhaps : ABETTED. Slow to see "job" in the larceny sense, rather than a work task.

6. Difficult : HARD

7. Biblical brother : ESAU. There's few of these four-letter biblical brothers. Wait for the crosses.

8. Comet fragment, perhaps : METEOR

9. State of mind : ATTITUDE

10. Proceed easily (through) : SAIL

11. Sense something's amiss : SMELL A RAT

12. Prefix with center : EPI-

13. "The Joy Luck Club" novelist : TAN. Amy Tan. She co-wrote the screenplay of the movie adaptation released in 1993.

21. Georgia, once: Abbr. : S.S.R. Soviet Socialist Republic.

22. Syrup-soaked cake : BABA

26. Ticket __ : AGENT

27. Dweebish : NERDY

29. Pro with a tabletop scale : VET. This stumped me for a while. I was trying to think of a three-letter word for an assayer.

30. System of moral values : ETHIC

31. Most piano sonatas : SOLI

32. Bluemountain.com product : E-CARD. My mind was firmly on the Jamaican coffee track, so this one was slow to emerge.

33. Drew : LURED

34. Adjacent to : BORDERING. Amazingly, neither this nor OVERFEED have appeared in any of the major puzzles, or at least since the Cruciverb web site began archiving the puzzles.

35. Mideast potentate : EMIR

39. Stuff at mealtime : OVERFEED

41. My Chemical Romance genre : EMO. Three-letter music genre? Fill it in and move on.

44. __ perpetua: Idaho motto : ESTO. "Let it be perpetual". Please let the Idaho Gold potatoes be perpetual too. I love 'em.

46. Sticks : ADHERES

49. Worsted fabrics : SERGES

50. Consume : EAT

54. Amalfi Coast country : ITALY

55. Romulus' twin : REMUS. Nice proximity to Italy, above. The wolf-raised brothers whose story tells of the founding of Rome by Romulus after he indulged in a spot of friendly fratricide because they couldn't agree which of the Seven Hills they should build on.

56. Source of some overhead footage : DRONE

57. Heroic Schindler : OSKAR

59. "What __ could it be?" : ELSE

60. Brief reminder : MEMO

61. "__ Unto My Feet": longtime CBS religious program : LAMP. I've never heard of the show, and I also had never heard the phrase. Combined with an unknown model where I forst wanted "ELLE" for no good reason, this was my final fill.

62. Circle part : ARC

63. Italian actress Scala : GIA

And finishing up with grid - here it is! Back to LA this afternoon, home sweet home. Well, for two days anyway!

Steve

Notes from C.C.:

1) Happy Birthday to dear Irish Miss, our loving Agnes, the life of our Crossword Corner! I finally got to talk to Agnes on the phone two weeks ago, after tons of email exchanges over the years.  Her voice is so young and reassuring. She's given me invaluable feedback and advice on various issues. I'm so lucky to have you on our blog, Agnes!

Eileen (sister of Agnes) & Agnes

2) Happy Birthday also to Abejo (Bradley), our Amazon guy who's always volunteering for various causes. Abejo is Persian for "beer". Bradley worked in Iran for a few years.

Madame DeFarge and Abejo, 11/15/2017

Wednesday, April 4 2018, David Poole

Theme: BOXED IN- Four different scrambles of AMEN is placed in each corner.

1. Whirlpool brand : AMANA

10. Italian smoker : ETNA

63. __ Domini : ANNO

65. 2014 film set in Alabama : SELMA

52. Exciting section of 37-Across, familiarly ... and a configuration found in four apt places in this puzzle : AMEN CORNER

Melissa here. The theme was subtle (each corner square contains the letter A), and I had to solve the whole puzzle before it clicked. Kept looking for something more obvious, like the word AMEN hidden in each answer, or something about golf because of  two golf-themed long answers. I'm guessing David Poole is a sports fan, and possibly French Canadian. Note: I was right!

(Thanks for the correction, Brian!)

Across              

6. "M*A*S*H" actor Jamie : FARR. He played Sergeant Maxwell Q. Klinger. More here.

14. Saint Kitts neighbor : NEVIS. Complete unknown to me.

  

15. Drink with a polar bear mascot : ICEE

16. Overflow (with) : TEEM

17. Civil rights org. : NAACP

18. Alum : GRAD

19. End of a Basque ball game? : ALAI

20. She walked into Rick's gin joint : ILSA

21. Tournament that awards a green jacket : THE MASTERS. Ten facts about the green jacket. And one more.


23. Springsteen's __ Band : E STREET

25. Speech therapy subject : LISP

26. Museum collection : ART

27. Show of strength? : FLEX

29. Montreal Canadien, to hockey fans : HAB. I had questions! Never noted that spelling of Canadien before - it is the French spelling. According to Wikipedia: "The "H" stands for "hockey", not "Habitants," a popular misconception. According to NHL.com, the first man to refer to the team as "the Habs" was American Tex Rickard, owner of the Madison Square Garden, in 1924. Rickard apparently told a reporter that the "H" on the Canadiens' sweaters was for "Habitants."

32. Wolfgang Puck restaurant chain : SPAGO

35. Litigant : SUER

36. Golfer's target : HOLE

37. Home of 21-Across : AUGUSTA NATIONAL. Anyone's guess this year.

40. Real estate measure : AREA

41. Quizzes : ASKS. Verb, not noun.


42. Colgate rival : CREST

43. "Full Frontal" host Samantha : BEE

44. Website with a "Craft Supplies & Tools" section : ETSY

45. Fenway team: Abbr. : BOS. Boston Red Sox.


46. Totally at sea : LOST

48. Actress Redgrave : VANESSA

56. Rating unit : STAR

57. Tennis score : LOVE. This sounds right, from Quora: "The word Love (for zero score) comes from French word l'oeuf - which means egg which is the shape of zero. The word Tennis itself originated from the French word tenez - which means to receive."

58. Granola grain : OATS

59. Skinny South American country : CHILE

60. Swimming event : MEET

61. Formerly, formerly : ERST

62. Songwriter Leonard : COHEN. Trivia - You Want It Darker came out days before Cohen died when he was in ill health. His son Adam brought recording equipment into his house and recorded his voice right into a laptop.

64. Ball belles : DEBS

Down

1. Miss Hannigan's charge : ANNIE

2. Board, in "room and board" : MEALS

3. Sailor's "Halt!" : AVAST

4. Central American nation : NICARAGUA

5. Egyptian viper : ASP

6. Argue : FIGHT

7. Farm field unit : ACRE

8. Paper order : REAM

9. Emergency status : RED ALERT

10. Les __-Unis : ETATS. More French, "The United States."


11. Whispering party game : TELEPHONE

12. Warm, in a game : NEAR

13. French friends : AMIS. Encore une fois avec français!

21. Asian New Year : TET

22. Joe Torre's retired Yankee uniform number : SIX

24. God with a bow : EROS

27. Musty-smelling : FUNKY

28. Grazing grounds : LEAS

30. "What a shame!" : ALAS

31. Karate skill award : BELT

32. Swedish auto : SAAB

33. Unadulterated : PURE

34. Anna Paquin won her Oscar for "The Piano" at it : AGE ELEVEN. So tricky.


35. Insolence : SASS

36. Good luck symbol : HORSESHOE

38. Drew on? : TATTOOED

39. Tapped symbol : ICON

44. PC bailout key : ESC

45. "Cheers" setting : BAR

47. "You're __ talk!" : ONE TO. Meaning, 'You're not one to talk!'

48. Three-piece pieces : VESTS

49. Chain saw brand : STIHL

50. Western state capital : SALEM. Oregon.

51. Toronto's Rogers Centre, for one : ARENA

52. __ mater : ALMA

53. Faucet brand : MOEN

54. Few and far between : RARE

55. Accident investigation agcy. : NTSB

59. Dosage amts. : CCS

Notes from C.C.:

The Saratoga Hospital turned out to be a cold place. They returned Agnes' card to Argyle due to lack of room number. We also cannot locate a package D-Otto sent. If any of you lives in that area, can you email me crosswordc@gmail.com? (Edited later: No need. Package was found. Thank you,  Spitzboov, for giving me the crucial contact person!)

I suspect some of you might have received bounced mail also. Argyle is now in a new place. The address is below. He'll be here for quite some time. He's doing OK. He has a phone and a tablet. Let's hope he can be on line soon.

D. Scott Nichols

Room #219
Wesley Health Care Center
131 Lawrence St.
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866