Monday April 1, 2019 Jake Braun

Theme: APRIL FOOL (64. Cry for today, and a hint to the starts of 17-, 25-, 37- and 54-Across)

 

17. Unpredictable leg joint problem: TRICK KNEE.

25. Beef named for a bone: RIBEYE STEAK.

37. Sally, to Charlie Brown: KID SISTER.

54. "Love, Simon" co-star: JOSH DUHAMEL.

  

Boomer here. Breaking news!! A heavy accumulation of snow has caused the roof of U.S. Bank stadium to collapse.  The NCAA Final Four has been moved to the new soccer stadium on University Avenue in St. Paul. Many fans are boycotting now because as you know, a bowling center was torn down on the land where the soccer park was built.

Mothers of River City, heed this warning before it's too late.  Watch for the telltale signs of corruption.  Check your sugar bowl for its contents before you scoop two spoonfuls on your cereal.

Across:

1. Half a fluid oz.: TBSP.  Check it first, it could be filled with salt.

5. Ancient Peruvian: INCA.  Dinka Doo  Jimmy Durante.

9. Jalopies: HEAPS.  You call my first car a heap ?  I'll call your Lincoln a dead president.

14. "I'm __ here!": "Adios!": OUT A.  There were few "Outa here" calls at Target Field last weekend.

15. "North by Northwest" actor Grant: CARY. C.C. said he's a favorite of Irish Miss.

16. Grownup: ADULT.

19. Coffee sweetener: SUGAR.  "On a day like today, we'll pass the time away" putting salt in the sugar bowl.

20. Be on the same page: AGREE.  I was never on the same page. Too busy looking at the pictures.

21. Butter square: PAT.  See 19A.  Mr. Pat Boone.

23. Old AT&T rival: MCI.

24. Camera largely replaced by its digital version, for short: SLR. "We have a Nikon Camera, gonna take a photograph.  Mama don't take my Kodachrome away."  Simon and Garfunkel.

30. Golfer's booking: TEE TIME.  Believe it or not, some courses have opened for play in Minnesota.  No carts yet and I still have three weeks of bowling left, so I think I will wait.

32. Diplomatic accord: ENTENTE.

33. Ancient Icelandic text: EDDA.

34. __ McMuffin: EGG.  Be careful today if your spouse tells you it is hard boiled.

36. "The Deep" director Peter: YATES.  From what rumors I have heard about ocean history, I often wonder how much gold bullion is 20,000 leagues under the sea.

41. Poe's one-word bird: RAVEN.  Nevermore

44. Stars are seen in it: SKY.

45. Bars on candy bars, e.g.: Abbr.: UPCS.  These are amazing! You go to the grocery market and the checkout cash register already knows the price of almost everything.  The clerk only had to tell the register the number on the banana sticker.

49. Disparaging word: EPITHET.  I am sure there were a few of them this weekend during the 30 degree windy weather at Target Field.  I watched on TV.  I don't know how many seats are at Target Field but it looked like 50,000 were empty.

52. "Let me say this again ... ": I REPEAT.  Check your sugar bowl!!

56. Lawyer's gp.: ABA.  Don't try to join.  You can get sued.

57. Inventor Whitney: ELI.  I tried some of that cotton gin.  It tastes lousy with tonic.

58. $200 Monopoly props.: RRS. "Railroad crossing look out for the cars.  Can you spell that without any Rs?"  T H A T

59. Fable writer: AESOP.

61. Hooves-on-cobblestone sounds: CLOPS.

67. Lone Ranger's pal: TONTO.  Jay Silverheels.  A very famous Canadian athlete and actor.

68. Con job: SCAM.  Not to be confused with SPAM. A con job by Hormel from Austin Minnesota convincing folks that it's good to eat.  Also half of the email I receive on a daily basis.         

69. Blend by melting: FUSE. Lousy clue. How about a Bussmann product.  Too easy ??

70. Actress Spacek: SISSY.

71. Locking device: HASP.

72. Went really fast: SPED.

Down:

1. How food may be salted: TO TASTE.  Sometimes out of the sugar bowl.

2. Broke into and stole from: BURGLED.  Burgled kind of sounds like you're choking on Pepto Bismol.

3. Mixed with a spoon: STIRRED.  After you put sugar in your coffee.  I hope it wasn't salt.

4. Walk nervously to and fro: PACE.  Also a slow adjective for a golf match or a baseball game.

5. "Eww!": ICK.

6. Indian bread: NAN.  I googled this and found it to be spelled NAAN.  I thought it was the money I left at the Native American Casino last fall.

7. French pancake: CREPE.

8. "Yes, captain": AYE AYE.  I wonder if they really say this on the ship, or only in the movies.

9. Is suffering from, as a cold: HAS. If the cold is pretty bad, then it's "I HAB a Code".

10. College address suffix: EDU.  Never mind if you cannot pass the SAT.  If you have enough money they will pretend you are a great soccer player and let you in. I think you can even pay a smart person to take the tests.

11. Make larger: AUGMENT.  I wish I could augment a few holes on the greens.

12. Appease: PLACATE.

13. Bowling x's: STRIKES.  I won't bother to explain this.

18. "Felicity" star Russell: KERI.

22. Bowling pin count: TEN.  A puzzle with TWO bowling clues??  No I did not rig it.  However can someone tell me why three strikes in a row is called a turkey?  ( I know why a fourbagger is called a hambone.  I don't like it, but I know who Rob Stone is.)

26. Chatted with online, briefly: IM'ED.

27. Pleads: BEGS.

28. Lid inflammation: STYE.  I have heard they are common and painful.  I am lucky to never have had one.

29. Rip to shreds: TEAR UP.

31. Opposite of giveth: TAKETH.  Biblical, but I'll allow.

35. USO show audience: GIS.  Believe it or not, I was in a USO group singing at EM and Top5 clubs at Fort Campbell, KY.  I was bass in "Sherrie" by the Four Seasons.  (Why don't you come out)

38. Broadcast with greater image resolution, as TV shows: IN HD.

39. Fat-free milk: SKIM.  Somehow I never got used to skim.  I prefer 1% - reasonably priced at ALDI

40. Spare in a Brit's boot: TYRE.  I get TYRED of foreign clues and answers.

41. Turns down: REJECTS.

42. Ill-fated 1967 moon mission: APOLLO I.  I remember this well.  A space capsule caught fire with three astronauts inside, and they could not be rescued.  Sad day for space missions.

43. "__ of sugar-plums danced in their heads": Moore: VISIONS.  When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my recliner to see Vhat Da heck vas going on out dere.

46. Green bowlful: PEA SOUP.  Sorry, I cannot eat anything that looks like this.

47. Last train car: CABOOSE. My family had three children.  Barbara, Douglas, and Amy.  When my sister was born, Mom and Dad thought it would be alphabetical to use a name starting with "C".  My father suggested Caboose.  (But mother held out for Constance.)

48. Attached using a Swingline: STAPLED.

50. U.K.'s continent: EUR.

51. Defeat decisively: THRASH.  There was not a lot of Thrashing going on in the NCAA Tournament this weekend.  Most of the games were exciting and close.  I picked Virginia, Gonzaga, Kentucky, and Michigan State.  I was glad to see the Spartans knock off the Blue Devils, because Michigan State represents the Big 10 (+4) and they knocked my Gophers out in Round 2.  Now, if Michigan State wins, I can say the Gophers finished second but had a lousy placement in the bracket. 

53. Airline to Tel Aviv: EL AL. Hope they don't have any Boeing 737 Max planes.

55. Pet adoption org.: ASPCA.  I often wonder where they get the $$$ to buy all those nauseating commercials with half dead dogs in them.

60. Letters before gees: EFFS.  If I spelled it that way I would probably get an "F".

62. Halves of qts.: PTS.

63. Tofu source: SOY.  C.C. really likes this milk substitute.  But it has to be unsweetened, unflavored, and mixed with rum.

65. Dorm VIPs: RAS.

66. Mischief-maker: IMP.

Hope you enjoyed this first day of April, commonly known as April Fool's Day.  In case you did not figure it out, once upon time, many years ago, I filled the sugar bowl on our kitchen table with salt. My dear mother used it as sugar, and "Holy Moley was dreamboat sore". I never pulled that one again.
 

Boomer

Sunday March 31, 2019 Ed Sessa

Theme: "Pardon My Yiddish" - One word in each familiar phrase is replaced by a soundalike Yiddish word.

23A. Bar mitzvah celebratory drink?: MAZEL TOV COCKTAIL. Molotov cocktail.

36A. Incompetent drivers?: SCHLEMIELS ON WHEELS. Meals on Wheels.

50A. Where decent people buy decent clothes at honest prices?: MENSCH STORE. Men's store.

66A. Cream cheese promotion?: SCHMEAR CAMPAIGN. Smear campaign.

84A. Trash-talking broadcaster?: SCHLOCK JOCK. Shock jock.

93A. Trudged through a nudist camp?: SCHLEPPED IN THE BUFF. Slept in the buff.
 
115A. Disaster for a figure skater?: KLUTZ PERFORMANCE. Clutch performance.

What a fun puzzle! So many unusual consonant combos in Yiddish, esp SCHLM/SCHL. Scrabbly too.

Mr. Ed gave us 7 entries. All of them are quite long. We have total 105 theme squares with some inconvenient letter pattern. But nothing fazes our Ed, who is one of the few constructors who make both themeless and themeless grids. Ed had a rare "Mr. Ed. Sessa" byline when his "HELLO I'M MISTER ED" puzzle was published by the New York Times a few years ago.

Across:

1. Tricks that treat: MAGIC.

6. Dalí contemporary: ARP (Jean).

9. Shame: ABASH.

14. Corp. bigwigs: CFOS. Still remember this guy?

18. Raspy-voiced Cooper: ALICE.

19. Protein provider: MEAT. Tofu for me. Mostly.

21. Evergreen bean: CACAO. The tree is evergreen.

22. Road division: LANE. So I marveled at a big maple tree in our neighborhood last week and asked Boomer "If you could be a tree, what tree would you like to be?" He said "I don't want to be a tree. I want to be a bowling ball".

26. "Roots" author Haley: ALEX.

27. Current gauge: AMMETER. Not ADAPTER.

28. Body wrap venue: SPA.

29. Jed Clampett, for one: HILLBILLY. Derogatory.

31. Sault Ste. Marie's __ Locks: SOO.

32. "That __ fact!": IS A.

33. Ring ruling: TKO.

35. Two in a canoe: OARS.

44. Seaweed product: AGAR. These are incredible mooncakes. The yellow centers are eggs, then red adzuki beans, then flour with green matcha. Reminds me of the mung bean cakes I had when I was a kid.

Mooncakes

Mung Bean Cakes

47. Howard of old comedy films: MOE.

48. Hereditary ruler: DYNAST.

49. Thumbs-up letters: A OK.

55. Lay idle: SAT.

56. Light sparkling wine: ASTI. Have any of you tried champagne vinegar?

57. Lodging with a "keeper": INN.

58. Bank job: HEIST.

59. Collectible print, briefly: LITHO.

61. Dark marks: BLOTS.

62. Stranger things: EXOTICA.

64. Officer Kalakaua's group, familiarly: FIVE-O. Never watched "Hawaii Five-0". Here is Officer Kalakaua.

65. Rainforest vine: LIANA.

70. Sapling support: STAKE.

72. Coordinate (with): TIE IN.

73. Traffic warning signal: FLASHER.

77. Means of access: DOORS.

78. Trouble from all sides: BESET.

79. Gumbo thickeners: OKRAS. Plurable?

81. Label for some Elton John albums: MCA.

82. Son of Seth: ENOS.

83. Web address letters: URL. Glad you noticed our blog URL C.C. logo, D-Otto! It's been there since Nov 2011 though :-)

87. Pickable point: NIT.

88. Confounded: DARNED.

91. Joey's mom: DOE.

92. "Gotcha": I SEE.

99. Sport with mallets: POLO.

100. Metric introduction?: GEO. Geometric.

101. Blood classification letters: ABO.

102. Tubular pasta, for short: MAC.

105. U.K. utility cost limitations: PRICE CAPS. Also a term we use here.

110. Blow away: AWE.

112. Sufi Muslim ascetic: DERVISH. Whirling dervishes.

114. Bull's partner, in a story?: COCK. Cock-and-bull story.

118. Musical diner fixture, for short: JUKE.

119. Like Poe pieces: EERIE.

120. It ends at the gutter: ROOF.

121. Choir voices: ALTOS.

122. Nap: REST.

123. __ Haute: TERRE.

124. Letters on a Sun Bum container: SPF. Never tried this brand. 

125. Scientific methods: TESTS.

Down:

1. Some baby rockers: MAMAS. Rock-ers.

2. Legendary mission: ALAMO.

3. Rube Goldberg device, e.g.: GIZMO.

4. Brand written in frosty letters: ICEE.

5. Irish musical ensemble __ Woman: CELTIC.

6. Unprincipled: AMORAL.

7. Short spin?: REV. Short for Revolution. Nice clue.

8. D.C. fundraisers: PACS.

9. "That's awful!": ACK.

10. Whole or half home unit: BATH.

11. Smoothie berry: ACAI.

12. Wind catcher: SAIL.

13. Valleys: HOLLOWS.

14. Danes of "Homeland": CLAIRE. Her husband Hugh Dancy is going to be on the last season of "Homeland".

15. When many TV shows debut: FALL SEASON.

16. Like Nash's lama: ONE-L.

17. Steamy: SEXY.

20. Of the highest quality: TOP TIER.

24. "A Deeper Faith" musician: TESH (John)

25. It's iced and sliced: CAKE. We call that western cake. Chinese cakes can be sweet or salty, like these turnip cakes Cantonese eat during spring festival. You can find them at dim sum place also. Taro cakes are similar.

30. Thai currency: BAHT. Also 53. "The King and I" kingdom: SIAM. So Lemonade, does Oo make Nam-Pla Wan at home or just buy a jar from the Asian store? This sauce is very Thai. It's a mix of hot red pepper, dried shrimp, fish sauce, shallot and palm sugar. Then people dipping sweet apple or mango slices into the sauce.

34. Overused, jokewise: OLD.

36. Yearbook gp.: SRS.

37. Ambulance pros: EMTS.

38. Of no consequence: MOOT. Point.

39. Bettor's strategy: SYSTEM.

40. After one bounce, in baseball lingo: ON A HOP.

41. Warsaw Pact counterpart: NATO.

42. Host of, in slang: LOTTA.

43. Slope gear: SKIS.

44. François's friend: AMIE.

45. Millennials' folks: GEN X.

46. A year in Caesar's time: ANNO.

51. Peepers: CHICKS.

52. Anne of 1998's "Psycho": HECHE.

54. Brings out: ELICITS.

56. Arkin and Menken: ALANS.

60. "Terrible" despot: IVAN. 63. 60-Down et al.: TSARS.

61. No small favor: BIG ASK. That's a big ask. Ask is a noun.

64. Given away: FREE.

65. Fragrant shrub: LILAC.

67. Endless, in verse: ETERNE.

68. Organized like big stores: AISLED.

69. Jimi Hendrix do: AFRO.

70. Drive-in with skating carhops: SONIC.

71. Sticks with the Swedish meatballs: TOOTHPICKS. Boomer and I went to our local Ikea ages ago. We got hopelessly lost.

74. Med. group options: HMOS.

75. Behold, to Pilate: ECCE.

76. Dirt smoother: RAKE.

77. Red fox holes: DENS.

78. Possible result of swallowing air: BURP.

79. "Didn't expect that": OH OH.

80. Swiss painter Paul: KLEE.

85. Jewel case storage unit: CD TOWER.

86. Peter Pan rival: JIF. My favorite. Chunky.

88. Editor's mark: DELE.

89. "... __ full of rye": A POCKET. Long partial.

90. Archaeological site: DIG.

94. Tiny portrait holder: LOCKET.

95. Type of tide: NEAP.

96. In money trouble, say: BAD OFF.

97. It dropped "Cab" from its name in 2011: UBER. Lyft just went public.

98. Document details: FORMAT.

102. Diner freebies: MINTS.

103. Tied accessory: ASCOT.

104. Game with a mate: CHESS.

105. '80s IBM flop nicknamed "Peanut": PC JR.

106. Don Juan: ROUE.

107. Mariner's direction: ALEE.

108. Sound from a lynx's larynx: PURR.

109. To-do: STIR.

111. God with a bow: EROS.

113. Poetic lowland: VALE.

116. Slice of pizza?: ZEE. Pizza.

117. Dandy: FOP.
 

Here is a picture of Will Shortz and Mike Alpern at the Cru dinner. You can find more pictures here. Hopefully Rich will make it next year.  Below is a picture of Jeffrey Wechsler and Mike.

Cru Dinner Celebrities, Will Shortz and Mike Alpern

 

Jeffrey Wechsler and Mike Alpern, ACPT, 3/23/2019

C.C.

Saturday, March 30, 2019, Pawel Fludzinski

Themeless Saturday by Pawel Fludzinski

On this day in 1858, Hymen Lipman received a patent for attaching an eraser to the end of a pencil. So now we celebrate National Pencil Day on this date.

The recent floods prevented me from getting a newspaper for four days and forced me to do the crosswords online instead of using my trusty #2 Ticonderoga. I did not enjoy the experience. 

Fun fact: John Steinbeck was an obsessive pencil user and used more than 300 to write East Of Eden. You're welcome!

Our constructor today is Pawel Fludzinski Ph.D (Pah' vel   Flu gin' ski). His Ph D is in organic chemistry and he retired to Santa Fe, NM in 2015 after 31 years of working for Eli Lilly in Pharmaceutical R and D. 

Pawel and I had a nice email exchange when I blogged his Feb. 3, 2018 puzzle and also for this one.  He said he wrote the cluing for this puzzle over a year ago and so we had some interesting exchanges about the cluing process as he tried to recall what his thought process was. I told him that he looks like he could be a James Bond super villain and he thought that was pretty funny! 

I told him I would love to have a glass of wine with him someday but he says he more or a single malt scotch man and has OBAN (a single malt scotch brand) in a submission. Suffice it to say he is a very interesting guy.

Pawel's license plate tells you both where he lives and what one of his passions is.

Pawel even managed to work his new home state into the first down clue 1. Alamogordo experiment: A-TEST- The first A-TEST detonation for The Manhattan Project occurred 1 hr and 35 min NNW of Alamogordo, NM

Cue the Goldfinger music as we see what Pawel has for us today.

Across:

1. SALT topic: ABM - SDS didn't cut it

4. Surface collection: DUST - My dad and his siblings talked a lot about the DUST of their childhoods

8. Territory affected by the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie: DAKOTA - The Sioux got rights to their sacred land - The Black Hills. And then gold was discovered there and George Armstrong Custer, et al soon followed 

14. Impulsively attack: TEAR INTO.

16. Panacea: ELIXIR - Good for what ails ya!

17. Makes a pig of oneself: ENGORGES.

18. Coquettes: MINXES - Synonyms for flirts 22. Esteem: REPUTE - Some coquettes can be of ill REPUTE and some can be 44. Smokin': HOT.

19. Showroom surprise: STICKER SHOCK.

21. Every other second?: TOCK - My favorite, Pawel.  I proudly sussed TICK but then I had the wrong vowel for 2. Japanese box lunch: BENTO.

23. Keystone figure: KOP.

26. King or queen: BED 

28. "Return of the Jedi" dancer: OOLA - A picture of the character autographed by Femi Taylor who portrayed her

29. Article beginning, in newspaper jargon: LEDE - LEAD/LEDE

30. Like some colors: MUTED.

32. Dish-washing liquid: TAP WATER - TAP WATER safety was a real concern during recent Nebraska flooding but it remained fine in my town

34. Lively ballroom dances: BOLEROS - I've never danced with someone who could touch the ceiling with her foot

36. City named for a Suquamish chief: SEATTLE - Below is the grave site of Chief Noah Sealth. Seattle founders mispronounced the chief's name to arrive at Seattle. Sealth was converted to Christianity by French missionaries

37. Interminably: AT LENGTH - Fidel Castro could talk for muchas horas 

39. Expand: SWELL.

40. Young follower?: STER - Voila! An description becomes a person

41. College bookstore, perhaps: COOP - This one probably has a lot of books that I would not understand

43. Sylvie's soul: AME - Sylvie a une belle ÂME (Sylvie has a beautiful soul)

45. Surveyor's equipment: TRIPOD - Today that TRIPOD is likely to support a surveying  laser

47. U.K. honors: OBES - Here Stella McCartney, Paul and Linda's daughter, receives the Order of the British Empire

50. Fix things?: STACK THE DECK - Nepotism can "STACK THE DECK" against you for getting a job

52. Not the usual merchandise amount: ODD LOT - One sleeve is 2" shorter?

55. French actress Adjani with a record five César Awards: ISABELLE - Her Internet Media Data Base page

56. Words of despair: NO HOPE - An ominous doormat "Abandon HOPE all ye who enter here" 

57. Smear protection?: LIBEL LAW - Can you sue for LIBEL if it's true? 

58. Excessively focus (on): OBSESS - Emerson's take on this

59. Ruhr refusal: NEIN.

60. D and C in D.C.: STS - Here they are just north of the Capitol. Very clever Pawel!

Down:

3. Panacea: MAGIC BULLET - A famous/infamous one

4. __ Nowitzki, 21-season NBAer: DIRK - A great German-born seven footer

5. Neat freak of film and TV: UNGER - Tony Randall was my favorite Odd Couple Felix

6. Sound purchase: STEREO

7. Pink elephant sighter: TOSS POT - A Britsh insult - Beer or ale was customarily served in ceramic pots, so a tosspot was a person who copiously 'tossed back' such pots of beer.

8. Rock samples?: DEMO TAPES - What musicians submit in hopes of getting recorded or published

9. "You're nothing but a pack of cards!" speaker: ALICE.

10. Flaw: KINK - We've all used this as a verb to get a drink from a hose

11. Losing game line: OXX - Top line here

12. Nil-nil, e.g.: TIE - Zero to zero on this side of the ocean

13. Razor edges?: ARS - Yes, R's start and end the word RAZOR

15. Gagarin or Glenn: ROCKETEER - I'm calling a foul, Pawel! Astronaut also has 9 letters. 😏

20. Island dances: HULAS

23. Exercise equipment sometimes swung: KETTLE BELLS 

24. New York Giants' star __ Beckham Jr.: O'DELL - Just this month, this flashy receiver became a Cleveland Brown

25. Famille member: PERE -  Mon PÉRE, était pompier volontaire (My Dad was a volunteer firefighter)

27. "Nebraska" Oscar nominee: DERN - A wistful look at aging and small town life - Trailer

29. Part of a getaway car description, maybe: LATE MODEL - Thieves can't drive old clunkers?

30. Words often framed: MOTTO.

31. Pet shop buys: DOG CRATES - They were temporary homes during our recent floods

33. Toddler's drink: WAWA - I better remember Gildna Radner's Bawbwa WAWA

34. Disparage: BASH - Ah, next year is an election year so let the BASHING begin

35. Unflappable: STOIC.

38. Brewer's drier: HOP KILN - Along with our cwd friend OAST

42. Friend of Richie, Ralph and the Fonz: POTSIE - Warren "POTSIE" Weber (Anson Williams)

45. 'Vette options: T-TOPS - '68 was the first 

46. Abu __: DHABI - Ferrari Abu DHABI is a motor themed amusement park and the world's largest space frame structure 

48. Panache: ECLAT  and 50. Gin flavor: SLOE and 52. "The world's most famous unknown artist": Lennon: ONO - Three old cwd friends

53. Passport nos.: DOB - Speaking of John and Yoko, John had his middle name changed from Winston to ONO. His passport shows both middle names along with his Date Of Birth

49. Unfairly presents: SKEWS - Good luck finding a news source that doesn't 

51. __ Upton, co-founder of the U.K.'s Raspberry Pi Foundation: EBEN - Here ya go!

54. They don't play the field: Abbr.: DHS - The American League still uses the Designated Hitter and The National League does not.

All right class, pencils down! It's time to electronically comment on this puzzle from the Dr. Fludzinski in the highest (7,000') state capital in America

Psst! When I can't find my #2 Ticonderoga, I use these because they have a great eraser and cost less than a dollar each!