Sunday August 14, 2016 Garry Morse

Theme: "Stop, Thief!" - Each them entry is punnily reinterpreted as if the thief indicated in the clue stole the item.

23A. The liquor store thief __ : BOOSTED SPIRITS. Totally different spirits. Nice.

35A. The restaurant thief __ : GRABBED DINNER

95A The gym thief __ : LIFTED WEIGHTS. Too heavy to steal.

 

113A. The art thief __ : KNOCKED OFF WORK. Different "work" as well.

16D. The condiment thief __ : PINCHED SALT. I use "pinch of salt".  Not "Pinch salt".

29D. The chocolate thief __ : STOLE KISSES. Different "kisses" as well.

 

50D. The poultry thief __ : POACHED EGGS. Here the original noun phrase became a verb phrase.

67D. The casino thief __ : SWIPED CARDS. The casinos probably give those playing cards away.

 

The theme reminds me of some of the John Lampkin Sunday puzzle. Tons of fun. 

The grid is also nicely designed. We don't often see four Across and four Down themer placement, unless there are some intersections going on.

Across:

       

1. Carrier with only kosher meals : EL AL

5. Vamoosed : FLED

9. Classic name in shoes : MCAN. Not AVIA or NIKE.

13. Place of worship : CHAPEL. Not CHURCH.

19. Default consequence : REPO

20. Have standing : RATE. Can you give me an example of how the clue/answer match?

21. "Gotcha" : AH SO. Rarely do we see this entry now.

22. Oscar nominee in four different decades : DE NIRO. Not STREEP.

26. Present for Garfield? : CATNIP. Cute clue.

27. With great skill : EXPERTLY

28. They may be run off : COPIES. And 89. Maker of 28-Across : XEROX

30. Reduces to small pieces : RICES

31. Browser's destination : SITE. Thankfully Explorer still exists in Windows 10 after the upgrade.

32. Farm house : COOP

33. Bit of clothing : STITCH

40. Surg. areas : ORs

41. Diminish : EBB

44. Rolled down the runway : TAXIED

45. Means of access : INs

46. Horror film sounds : WAILS

48. One looked up to : IDOL. Or HERO.

49. Mt. Hood's state : OREG

50. Creator of one who pondered "Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore"

: POE. The Raven.

51. Secret supply : CACHE

52. "Even __ speak ... " : AS WE

53. Really poor : SAD

54. Enter with rage : STORM IN

57. "The Ballad of John and __" : YOKO. Are you familiar with May Pang?

59. Hand on deck : MATE

60. "SNL" parody Baba __ : WAWA

61. Player's fixed contribution : ANTE. Oh poker.

63. Fire sign? : PINK SLIP. Great clue also.

65. Element #33 : ARSENIC

68. Some selective socializers : SNOBS

70. Lawmaking bodies : SENATES

71. Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium city : NEW DELHI. I like trivia clue.

73. Trade : SWAP

74. Unlikely : SLIM

75. All in : AVID

76. Rivulets seen after swirling, to a wine taster : LEGS. Unfamiliar with the term.

78. Exam in which letters are read : EYE TEST. Simple in retrospect.

80. Rockies hrs. : MST

83. Casual pace : LOPE

84. Discourage : DETER

86. Trig. ratio : COS. Cosine.

87. Copacetic : JAKE. I did not know the meaning of "Copacetic" or this "Copacetic" meaning of JAKE.

88. Signed, say : OK'ed

90. RSVP part : SIL

91. "I was evidently mistaken" : SO IT IS. Got via crosses.

93. Goal for a H.S. dropout : GED

94. Coll. conferral : DEG

98. Priests, e.g. : CLERGY

101. Pinot __ : GRIS. Not NOIR.

102. Unfavorable aspects : ILLs. Tricky little clue.

103. Debussy's "__ de Lune" : CLAIR

105. Great Plains language family : SIOUAN

107. Got rid of : UNLOADED

111. Stereotypical long beard grower : HERMIT

 115. Salad veggie : ENDIVE. Both are called Endives. The curly one is a bit bitter. By the way, Lucina, I buy taro roots at our local grocery stores.

116. Quito's land: Abbr. : ECUA

117. Reason for an admonition : NO NO

118. Mother of Charlie Woods : ELIN. I know Tiger has two kids. Did not know their names: Same & Charlie.

119. Nail or tack : FASTEN. Verb rather than noun.

120. Court period: Abbr. : SESS

121. Growl : GNAR. Never heard of this word before. 

122. Overrule : DENY

  

Down:

 

1. Kathryn of HBO's "Oz" : ERBE

2. 16th-century pope : LEO X

3. Each : A POP

4. Gets routed : LOSES BIG. Sparkly fill.

5. Bit one's nails, perhaps : FRETTED

6. Served, as soup : LADLED

7. Online handicraft market : ETSY

8. Bank acct. starter : DEP. OK, deposit.

9. Color from the French for "chestnut" : MAROON. Learning moment to me.

10. Michigan native : CHIPPEWA. Also 24. Five Nations unit : TRIBE

11. Bubbly region : ASTI

12. Aroma detectors : NOSES. Looking forward to receiving  this soybean paste.  Hopefully it's as good as my grandma's. It's definitely an acquired taste/smell. 

13. Atlanta-based health agcy. : CDC

14. Game with tricks : HEARTS

15. Playful : ANTIC

17. Cleveland's lake : ERIE

18. Trims, as branches : LOPS

 

25. Screen array : ICONS

 

32. Movie houses : CINEMAS

34. Org. with complex forms : IRS. I don't recall my Dad paid any taxes when he worked. But his salary was low. For a long period it was RMB49/month. About $8. But everything was free then. You did not need to pay for housing, medical bills, education, etc.

35. Classic Pontiacs : GTOs

36. __ avis : RARA

37. Cut : AXED

38. A-line designer : DIOR

39. Suggestive : RACY

42. Pee-wee Herman accessory : BOW TIE

43. Substitutes for bad words : BLEEPS

47. Restaurant with a smile in its logo : IHOP. Unaware of their new logo. I went there once. Ages ago.

48. Start of a Seuss classic : I AM SAM

 

51. Toronto skyline landmark : CN TOWER

54. Well-thought-out : SANE

55. Woven fabric : TWILL

56. Stopping points : INNs

58. First-year law students : ONE-Ls. Doesn't the L stand for Law?

60. __ bliss : WEDDED

62. Auction site : EBAY

64. Heal, as broken bones : KNIT

65. Not digital : ANALOG. I have to change battery for my Timex every year. Is it the same case with you?

66. Bridge violation : REVOKE

69. Genus subdivision : SPECIES

72. Eisner's Disney successor : IGER (Bob)

77. Small-runway mil. craft : STOL. Short TakeOff and Landing. Gluey fill.

79. Gave it away : TOLD

80. Adding and subtracting : MATH

81. "SNL" staple : SKIT

82. Hardy's "Pure Woman" : TESS

85. Meager : EXIGUOUS. Not a word I use.

87. Cut in tricky patterns : JIGSAWED

89. Millennial's parent, briefly : Xer

90. Perform horribly : STINK

91. Bring on the market : SELL FOR

92. __ Olay : OIL OF. Just Olay now.

94. Originate (from) : DERIVE

96. Brawl : FRACAS

97. "Little Women" co-star of Kirsten, Claire and Trini : WINONA. Got via crosses.

99. Allowable extreme : LIMIT

100. "Holy cow!" : YIKES.  Try this color-blindness test if you can spare one minute. I tested twice, the first time it says I'm a Tritan, the second time it says I'm normal. D-Otto is a strong Deutan. Sounds like a giant.

103. Restaurant opener : CHEF. Normally.

104. Actress Olin : LENA

106. At a former time : ONCE

107. Japanese noodle : UDON. This and Soba.

108. Give sparingly : DOLE

109. Yeats' home : ERIN

110. Big Apple fashion initials : DKNY. Widely copied in China.

112. Common base : TEN

114. Course with vocab. : ENG

C.C.

Saturday, Aug 13th, 2016, Gareth Bain & Brad Wilber

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing J,K,Q,Z)

Blocks: 28

  Well, I thought I was not going to do so well with this puzzle when I saw the constructors' names, but all in all, I came out on the other side with just a few scratches - but I have to admit to some red-letter cheating.  I was done in by the proper names, again, and one entry that I am ashamed to have missed, but it's been a long hot and humid week, so that's my excuse....what's yours~?   Triple 9- and 11-letter corners, with a couple more nine-letter entries on the inside.  One from each corner;

15. Some wealthy '70s British emigrants : TAX EXILES - The Beatles come to mind, and a lot of other musicians

12. Political nickname : "The GOVERNATOR" - Ahhnold Schwarzenegger

67. Bond, e.g. : MASTER SPY - gratuitous image for C.C.

 

30. Liqueur in a monastic-looking bottle : FRANGELICO - back in the day, a friend of mine used to make an alcoholic drink that tasted like the milk of the cereal "Boo Berry", and this was one of the main ingredients

LONG
         W
             A
                 R
                   D
                   ~!

ACROSS:

1. Parents concerned with play dates? : STAGE MOMS - har-har

10. Like kelp : ALGAL - I thought maybe LEAFY; this image is "ALL GAL"

16. Those who call New Zealand "Aotearoa" : MAORI - educated WAG

17. Yom Kippur theme : ATONEMENT

18. Buff : MAVEN - I was stuck on the verb for a while; this is more like Film ___

19. Default : RENEGE

20. "Penny Dreadful" network, briefly : SHOwtime - never heard of this show, but I don't get premium channels

22. Lea grazer : EWE

23. Changdeokgung Palace city : SEOUL

26. Like white tigers : INBRED

28. Left Bank eateries : CAFÉS

31. Temp in many pictures : MALL SANTA - At first I thought it was "MALE ---", but the last "-TA" was solid; I just could not see the connection to 'pictures' - had it been 'shopping centers'....but then, that's too easy

33. Water cooler newcomer : HIREE - every week there's newly hired kids at UPS, and very few last beyond a year

34. Cardiogram connection : LEAD

35. Nuclear fission pioneer Otto : HAHN

36. Educator LeShan : EDA

37. Defender at Thermopylae : SPARTAN

40. Noir hero : TEC

41. Group of pals : GANG

43. Bard's instrument : LUTE

44. "... with a muffler __ her eyes": "Henry V" : AFORE

46. Pigs and cows, e.g. : UNGULATES - "hoofed" - the Wiki

48. Mules' mothers : MARES - HORSE was not the correct pluralism

49. Ideal : EDENIC - ah, so that's how you get EDEN to fit 6 letters....

50. Branding target : STEER

52. He succeeded Michael as Batman : VAL - Kilmer, one of the few proper names, and I could spell it, too

53. Lincoln's st. : NEBraska - Shout Out to two of our regulars~!

55. Swear : ATTEST

59. Stomach : ABIDE

61. Way to get to Bora Bora : AIR TAHITI - D'oh~! I went with VIA, not AIR

64. Quest for intel : RECONnaissance

65. Immature : UNRIPENED

66. Tiny energy sources : ATOMS

DOWN:
1. Scrabble board symbol : STAR - smack in the middle

2. Turner Prize-awarding gallery : TATE

3. Impulse pathway : AXON - good WAG, but then again, a four-letter brain word....

4. River through Rochester, New York : GENESEE - I'm familiar with the answer because I drove down Genesee Street when I visited my buddy up at Utica

5. Interpretations of scripture : EXEGESES - all the consonant filled via perps; the rest was "E" WAGs; new word for me

6. Old copy : MIMEO

7. Fútbol cry : OLÉ

8. Chess pieces : MEN - I SO want a stone set for the back yard~!

9. Now-flightless "birds" : SSTs - great clue for a standard CW fill

10. Two-time National Book Award-winning poet A.R. __ : AMMONS - WAGed one "M", the rest was perps

11. A.L. West team, in crawl lines : LAA - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

13. Sleepy backseat query : "ARE WE THERE~?"

14. Performances in rows : LINE DANCES

21. "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" aunt : HILDA - again, a WAG

24. Häagen-Dazs ingredient? : UMLAUT - this is Blue Oyster Cult/Spinal Tap territory~!

25. To whom Polonius said, "To thine own self be true" : LAERTES - I WAGed the spelling

27. "Ridiculous!" : "BAH~!"

28. Cuban Revolution VIP : CHE GUEVARA - I am familiar with this iconic poster image

29. Help badly? : AID AND ABET

32. Grapevine product, with "the" : LATEST - there's also the A.A. Grapevine

38. Put : PLACE

39. Young camper's proof of ownership : NAME TAPE - I looked this up after the fact because I had never heard of such a thing

42. Try hard (for) : GUN

45. At a greater distance : FARTHER

47. Bedding : LINENS

51. Absorb the loss : EAT IT

54. "John Dough and the Cherub" author : BAUM - perps and a WAG

56. Zehn minus neun : EINS - das German 10 - 9 = 1

57. Bit of progress : STEP

58. Spruce (up) : TIDY

60. King's end? : DOM - kingdom

62. Like Schubert's "Trout Quintet" : IN A - filled in the "IN" and waited....

63. The 1906 Hepburn Act gave the ICC power to set rates for them : RRs

Splynter

Note from C.C.:

1) Happy Birthday to dear Chickie, who has been with our blog since 2008. Chickie and her husband Bill has been married for 62 years.

2) Happy Birthday to Spitzboov's wife Betty as well! They've been married for 51 years!

Spitzboov & Betty at the reunion dinner held at the US Coast Guard Academy, New London, CT, 2012

Friday, August 12, 2016, Bruce Haight

Title: Measured endings

Bruce is back and he tops JW's 4 grid spanners last week with 5, including the reveal. We see that the end of the 4 phrases are measures (each four letters) which wonderfully appear in order from INCH to MILE. With 75 squares accounted for, there was not much room for more, but we do get ENID O.K. (which was a bear to parse) AS IT IS and the lovely SWEAR WORD (how cools to sneak a swear word in the puzzle) and the entertaining  BAT SIGNAL. Bruce is becoming a regular here, so I hope you get on his wavelength. Let's look more closely... here

We will begin with the end...

57A. Finishes a task, and a hint to hidden words in this puzzle's four other longest answers : GOES THE DISTANCE (15).

17A. Strapped : FEELING THE PINCH (15). Maybe in ITALY?

23A. "Carefree Highway" singer : GORDON LIGHTFOOT (15). Listen.

37A. Island on which much of "Jaws" was filmed : MARTHA'S VINEYARD (15). I grew up not far from this ISLAND.

47A. Grin : BREAK INTO A SMILE (15). Maybe one like....or...





Well, take your pick, we must go to work to solve the rest....

Across:

1. Read the riot act : BASTE. This was a very hard place to start, as I had no idea of this definition and resisted the perps.

6. Like tightrope walkers : AGILE. Did you all watch the AGT where the man was struck by the flaming arrow?

11. D-backs, on scoreboards : ARIzona.

14. Physics Nobelist Schrödinger : ERWIN. He and Neils Bohr are very popular in crosswords. Here is a great discussion of his CAT.

15. Attendance count : NOSES.

16. Soft slip-on : MOC. Like ALUM last week a word that may have gone beyond being an abbreviation.

20. Baja bear : OSA. Spanish.

21. Two piece? : DUET. Nicely clued.

22. Paycheck abbr. : FICA. Federal Insurance Contributions Act - though contribution seems a bit out  of place.

28. Seasoned cookers : WOKS. Does the clue WOK for you?

29. Golfer McIlroy : RORY. Another 0 for major year...two in a row.

30. Eastern noodle : UDON. More Asian influence.

32. Clued in : AWARE.

34. What might make a ewe turn? : BAA. I LOVE, LOVE this clue.

41. Many a prof : PHD.

42. In base eight : OCTAL. Straight Latin.

43. First name in jazz : ETTA. James, not ELLA.

44. Con : ANTI.

45. Free ride : PASS.

54. "Do or do not. There is no try" speaker : YODA.

55. Hyatt competitor : OMNI. They have lots of golf courses including LA Costa in Carlsbad, California which I had the pleasure of playing many times. The caddies really helped.

56. Informal British address : GUV. Is this LINK accurate Steve? NC?

62. SEALs' org. : USN.

63. Baron Cohen's Kazakh journalist : BORAT. Ali G., Borat or Bruno? ALL you need to know.

64. "... bombs bursting __" : IN AIR.

65. High pts. : MTS.

66. Bends with the breeze : SWAYS.

67. __ pitch : SALES.

Down:

1. Obscure : BEFOG.

2. Playground comeback : ARE SO. Same number of letters as AM NOT.

3. Censor's target : SWEAR WORD. Simple.

4. Up to, in ads : TIL.

5. City SSW of Wichita, KS : ENID OK.

6. Source of opera financing : ANGEL. In the earlier years they were called patrons.

7. "The Teflon Don" : GOTTI. The late mob boss, died in prison in 2002 at 62.

8. "More or less" equivalent : ISH. Ir-ish? Swed-ish? Jew-ish?

9. Casual wear biggie : LEE. I never can tell Lee from Wrangler, now I know why. Major players in US jeans include jeans companies such as Levi Strauss & Co (which owns brands like Levi’s, Dockers, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co and Denizen) and VF Corp (which owns Wrangler, Lee and Rustler brands), apparel brands such as Gap, American Eagle, Zara and H&M, and private label brands by major retailers like Wal-Mart Stores and JC Penny. Jeans world.

10. Debatable power : ESP.

11. Test that examines fetal DNA, briefly : AMNIOcentesis. The needle is enough to convince me women are stronger. My wife went through this.

12. "Fidelio" jailer : ROCCO. Beethoven's only OPERA.

13. Phased-out Apple messaging software : I CHAT. I never had any Apple products until recently and by now they switched to messenger.

18. They have their orders : NUNS. These constructors are making a habit of punny clues for nuns.

19. Questionable : IFFY.

24. "Cut that out!" : DON'T.

25. Holy __ : GRAIL. How could I resist this LINK.

26. 38-Down source : HORN.  38D. 26-Down sound : HONK. This seems a bit lazy.

27. Back into a corner, in a way : TREE.

30. One with a stay-at-home job? : UMP. Nice clue; JW and I used UMP as our fan friendly 1 across.

31. Code word : DAH. Morse code; not created by Inspector Morse.

32. Sean of "Rudy" : ASTIN. And Samwise Gamgee.

33. Penn. neighbor : W.VA.

34. Device that debuted in Detective Comics in 1942 : BAT SIGNAL. The signal first appears in Detective Comics #60, for any collectors out there.

35. Knack : ART. This is a tough way to clue this three letter fill.

36. Org. concerned with securing crowns : ADA. American Dental Association.

39. Dramatic start : ACT I. A really nicely put together clue.

40. Respectful rural response : YES'M.

44. Small power sources : AAAS.

45. Discouraging words : PANS.

46. "Given the circumstances ... " : AS IT IS. Ans so it goes.

47. Quaint words of resolve : BY GUM. By golly has never been used, by gum.

48. Place to rule : ROOST.

49. Paradises : EDENS.

50. "No more procrastinating!" : TODAY.

51. Passes over : OMITS.

52. Florida's Port St. __ : LUCIE. This may be a challenge for those who do not live or visit SoFla., as it is a CITY of about 180,000 people not known for much except being perhaps the most devastated by the real estate collapse.

53. '50s-'60s civil rights activist : EVERS. Hard to talk about this MAN and not be political, but then maybe human rights are not political?

58. "Angie Tribeca" airer : TBS. I have never watched this series from Steve Carrell, but it looks...

59. Methodology word : HOW.

60. Period : ERA.

61. Santa __, California : ANA.

Is everyone adapting to Bruce's cluing? Of course since Rich edits....did any of you read the flap over at the Fiend about a NYT puzzle where after being criticized by the posters, a constructor called out Will Shortz for changing the fill and clues in that corner?  And I thought the NYT was supposed to be the staid civilized place. Ah well I love this Corner, and thanks again Bruce and all of you. Lemonade out. Go USA; Michael Phelps is amazing. This is his 5th Olympics!!!!!!

Thursday, August 11th, 2016 Jeffrey Wechsler

Theme: A bunch of crazies - Five mad synonyms begin each theme entry:

20A. Toon with the catchphrase "You're despicable!" : DAFFY DUCK. He's evolved a little since 1937:

27A. With "The," Julius Kelp, in a 1963 movie : NUTTY PROFESSOR. Written by, directed by and starring Jerry Lewis. I'm guessing there wasn't a lot of argument on the set.

34A. Alfred E. Neuman trademark : SILLY GRIN. Mad Magazine gap-toothed "cover boy".

46A. Dr. Seuss book about an odd time of the week : WACKY WEDNESDAY

56A. Riding crop relative : BUGGY WHIP. Or what you get when you take dessert cream in a can on a picnic?

Morning! A quintet of themers - all adjectives, all five letters and all synonyms. The final BUGGY was new to me, I'd never heard the term used in that context. I'm more familiar with the creaky computer code meaning.

It did cross my mind that a CRAZY entry might be a little more mainstream, but I'm guessing BUGGY must be more in-the-language than I thought.

The NE corner had me stumped for the longest time. I eventually stared it down, but it took way longer than is normal for me; it's  always nice to be challenged. Tricky cluing for TEAM USA, APRICOT and SETTERS; indecision between CREEDS and CREDOS and not seeing any of the cross entries had me sweating.

Let's see what else we've got today:

Across:

1. They don't last long : FADS

5. Little biter : GNAT

9. Take the role of : ACT AS. With ACH already in place, I started with ADOPT, which contributed to my NE corner travails.

14. Introductory French infinitive : ÊTRE. To Be. Hamlet's favorite French verb.

15. Girl in a Manilow song with "a dress cut down to there" : LOLA. From the Copacabana Club in New York City, named for the beach in Rio.

16. Left Bank lunch choice : CRÊPE. More uncertainty here. I was ruminating whether another city had a Left Bank (I'm more familiar with the Parisian "Rive Gauche") and if we were in France why neither "soupe" nor "salade" worked with my "ACH". A geographical oddity, the Left Bank is actually on the south side of the river in central Paris.

17. Gas, for one: Abbr. : UTIL

18. Fossey subjects : APES

19. Crux : HEART.

22. Send out : EMIT.

23. Trainer's command : SIT

24. Wing, perhaps : ELL

25. Offer as proof : ADDUCE. I don't think I knew this. The word looks familiar now I see it, but it was my final fill.

31. Restful place : SPA

32. Struggling sea : ARAL. Struggling in the sense that it's disappearing. The same is happening with a number of lakes here in California. Just yesterday, the British "Guardian" newspaper carried this story about Eagle Lake.

33. Cadillac model : ATS. Not STS then.

39. "Shameless" network, in TV listings : SHO. Showtime. I don't think about this any more, it just goes straight in.

42. Old Venetian judge : DOGE. He had a nice, modest abode, the old judge. No over-indulgence here. Two beds, 1 1/2 baths.

43. Special __ : OPS

51. Is of use to : AVAILS

52. Source of confidence : EGO

53. Copyright data: Abbr. : YRS. As in © 2015, 2016

55. Shore bird : TERN. Oh, so not TEAL.

59. "Granted" : SO I DO. "So you think I blog every Thursday? Granted, but I might need a stand-in every now and again".

61. Algerian coastal city : ORAN. Nice looking place. Second largest city after the capital Algiers.

62. __-Tahoe Airport : RENO. I got delayed here on the way back from a meeting in Reno with the manufacturers of most of the video gaming machines you find in Reno, Las Vegas and other gambling resorts. To kill some time I played a few hands of video poker on one of their machines, and before I knew what was happening I'd lost $100. I didn't get the business either, just to add insult to injury.

63. Wing, perhaps : ANNEX

64. Gp. joined by Croatia in 2009 : N.A.T.O.

65. 2012 Best Picture : ARGO

66. Welling up : TEARY

67. Cassini of fashion : OLEG. He created the "Jackie Look" for the First Lady.

68. Glimpse : PEEK

Down:

1. Extended conflicts : FEUDS

2. Gets : ATTAINS

3. Rise slowly, as smoke : DRIFT UP

4. Lifestyle magazine : SELF. I'd never heard of this publication, but then I don't think I'm exactly the target demographic.

5. "With pleasure!" : GLADLY

6. Tropicana option : NO PULP. I like the pulpy grapefruit juice personally.

7. Guinness on screen : ALEC

8. Job : TASK

9. "__ du lieber!" : ACH. My only entry in the NE for some considerable time.

10. Doctrines : CREEDS

11. Stars and Stripes squad : TEAM USA. Tricky.

12. Nectar source : APRICOT. Tricky.


13. British cruciverbalists : SETTERS. Tricky! Usually called "constructors" here in the US. The marquee London Times cryptic puzzle appears anonymously, others newspapers use pseudonyms for the setters.

21. "__ Brutus says he was ambitious": Antony : YET

25. Way off : AFAR

26. Section with a slicer : DELI. I was thinking along the lines of a kitchen tool before the penny dropped.

28. Positions for Ph.D. students : T.A.S

29. Like daisies : RAYED. Crosses filled this in for me. Here's a bee visiting:

30. Cousin of edu : ORG. URL suffix.

35. Pastoral poem : IDYL

      But when that moan had past for evermore,

The stillness of the dead world's winter dawn

Amazed him, and he groan'd, "The King is gone.''

And therewithal came on him the weird rhyme,

"From the great deep to the great deep he goes."

 

From "Idyls of the King: The Passing of Arthur" - Alfred, Lord Tennyson

36. Some temperature extremes : LOWS

37. Soft drink ord. : LGE.

38. Subtle assent : NOD

39. Goes after, as a fly : SWATS AT

40. Hors d'oeuvres server's suggestion : HAVE ONE! I put in HAVE TWO! initially, I guess a reflection of what I'd like to hear!

41. Ancient instrument with finger holes : OCARINA. I had no idea that this was a thing:

44. Sign at the register : PAY HERE

45. Shot source : SYRINGE

47. More comforting : KINDER. I can't stop seeing the German "child" with this word. It's like the candelabra/kissing picture - once you see one, it's hard to see the other.

48. Void : NEGATE

49. Seasonal quaff : EGG NOG

50. Vegan staple : SOY

54. Frighten, as a horse : SPOOK

56. U2 frontman : BONO. A little late for a musical link, but here's one of my favorite ballads from "The Joshua Tree" album.

57. Russia's __ Mountains : URAL

58. Food truck offering : WRAP

60. Oil giant, on the NYSE : OXY. Occidental Petroleum Corp.

I think that should do it for me today. It's a 56D.

Steve

Oh - and heeeeeere's the grid!

Wednesday, August 10, 2016 C. C. Burnikel

Theme:  TURN AROUND -- NOPE, JUST KIDDING.  The circled letters, when reversed, spell a synonym for teasing somebody.  I don't recall seeing a circle puzzle on a Wednesday before.  That more often occurs later in the week.  But other aspects of the construction lean more toward early week, and the difficulty felt about right for a Wednesday, so it all averages out.

Recognizing the theme requires locating the target letters, then reading them backwards to find the theme word.  This could be quite a problem if you didn't have the circles in your grid.  Let's have a look.

17 A. Spread some gossip : DISH THE DIRT.  Slangy expression.  I think RIDE goes a bit beyond good-natured teasing into domineering or harassing territory

24 A. Hybrid toaster oven snacks : PIZZA ROLLS.  A variation on the won ton - pierogi theme, this mini dough pillow is filled with PIZZA flavored food-like substances.  To RAZZ someone is to tease them playfully [though one may always wonder about motivation.]

38 A. He has a nest at 123½ Sesame Street : BIG BIRD.   This fowl is large, but not foul.  To RIB someone is pretty close in meaning to RAZZING them.

52 A. Stayed on : HUNG AROUND.   Loitered or lingered.  RAG, to me, seems closer to RIDE than to RAZZ or RIB, so we have a kind of symmetry.

And the reveal -- 63 A. Young player on the rebound ... or, in another way, what each set of circles in this puzzle represents : COMEBACK KID.  Indicates an athlete who showed promise, faded, then regained his former prowess.  COMEBACK is a coded hint that the theme entry is to be read retrograde, while KID is a synonym for the thus revealed words.   So our reveal takes the form of a cryptic clue.  I'll admit that it took me a few minutes to suss this one.  Fiendishly clever concept put forth by our fearless leader.

Hi, gang.   JazzBumpa on duty.  Lets see what else is in store.  Is there any more teasing hidden in today's entry?

Across

1. Divers' destinations : REEFS.   Coral formations that are habitat for many types of underwater life.

6. Japanese cartoon art : ANIME.  In Japan, the word refers to any animation.  Most other places, it refers to a more or less specific cartoon genre associated with a style that originated in Japan. Examples.

11. "Shoot!" : ASK.  Slangy way to encourage a question.

14. Send to cloud nine : ELATE.   Make someone happy.

15. Sir Arthur __ Doyle : CONAN.  Late night host or barbarian warrior?  Nope - the author of the Sherlock Holmes tales.

16. Traffic court letters : DWI.  Driving While Intoxicated.   A serious and dangerous traffic violation than can cost you a lot of strife and dollars.  Don't do it.  And I'm not KIDDING!

19. Chow fixer? : VET.  This chow is a dog, and fixing means neutering it to prevent the appearance of unwanted puppies.

20. Emphatic affirmation : OH, YES I DO.    Imagine someone jumping up and down while clapping.  Now imagine the last time you saw a four-word fill consisting of only 8 letters.

21. Paperless tax return option : E-FILE.   File electronically, and hope you don't get hacked.

23. Original "Veronica Mars" airer : UPN.  United Paramount Network.  A TV network that ran from 1995 through 2006, when it was replaced by the CW, a joint venture venture between CBS and Warner Brothers.

27. Surrealism pioneer Max : ERNST.  [1891 - 1976]  German painter, sculptor, graphic artist and poet.  Gallery here.

29. That being the case : IF SO.  Then some conclusion ensues.

.

30. "... Mr. Tambourine Man, __ song for me" : PLAY A.   Bob Dylan.

32. __ standstill : AT A.   Like rush hour traffic.  Your oxymoron for the day.

33. Birch or beech : TREE.    Deciduous trees of the families Betulacaea and Fagacaea, respectively.

37. Buns and flips : DOs.  Hair styles.   A bun is a gathered style, while the flip is loose and turned up at the ends.

42. Actress Gardner : AVA.

Not always happy

43. Racing legend A.J. : FOYT.  [b. 1935] Retired American driver with 159 wins in a variety of motor sport genres.

45. "Later!" : BYE.  See ya'!

46. Absolute : UTTER.  Complete and total, as in, for example, a lack of milk.

48. Sharif of "Doctor Zhivago" : OMAR.  Michel Dimitri Chalhoub [1932 - 2015] an Egyptian actor, fluent in Arabic, English, Greek, French, Spanish and Italian.  He was also an avid horse racing enthusiast and one of the world's top-ranked contract bridge players.

50. Prophets : SEERS.  Predictors of the future.

56. Dutch banking giant : I N G.    Internationale Nederlanden Groep, involved in all aspects of banking, plus insurance and asset management.

58. Homeric epic : ILIAD.  Set during the Trojan war, a 10-year siege of Troy [aka Ilium] in what is now the Anatolian region of Turkey.

59. Philips electric toothbrush brand : SONICARE.

62. "Teen Wolf" network : M T V.   Originally Music TV.  Now, I have no idea what the M is supposed to stand for.

66. Iron source : ORE.  Rust filled DIRT, that the miners must dish out.

67. Go off-script : AD LIB.  Speak or perform in an improvised manner.   Would I ever do that?

68. Mix : BLEND.  Co-mingle.

69. Baby goat sound : MAA.   What - no love for paa?

70. Like mosquitoes : PESTY.   I had pesky.  Made my grid like the next fill.

71. In disarray : MESSY.   Not neat and tidy.

Down

1. Second try : REDO.  A do over, and for some, a Mulligan.

2. Philanthropist Yale : ELIHU.  [1649 - 1721] A British merchant, president of the East India Company settlement at Madras, and benefactor of the university for which he is the Eponym.

3. "No sweat" : EASY PEASY.  A piece of cake.

4. 1862 Tenn. battle site : FT. HENRY.  Site of the first important victory on the western front of the American civil war for The Union forces and General U. S. Grant.

5. Match makers? : SETS.  In tennis and other sports, a match is divided into some number of sets.  The winner of a designated number of sets wins the match.

6. Nailed the test : ACED IT.  

7. Brand for serious last-minute preparation : NODOZ.  Caffeine supplement to forestall drowsiness.

8. Italian food ending : -INI.  As in tortellini, etc.

9. Tarnish : MAR.  Inflict damage on.

10. Comes in : ENTERS.

11. Pain reliever sold in Liqui-Gels : ADVIL.  Brand of ibuprofen.   Some people swear by it.  This is called ibuprofenity

12. "Peachy" : SWELL.  Groovy, man.

13. Windy weather fliers : KITES.

18. Arms-akimbo joints : HIPS.  I would have preferred elbows, but they don't fit.  "Akimbo," indicating a hands-on-hips posture, does not look and feel like a native English word, but it does trace back to Middle English "in kenebowe, " "kene" meaning [among other things] sharp, and "bowe" meaning bent.  So it's all good.

22. Arch site : FOOT.  The longitudinal and transverse arches of the FOOT are formed by the tarsal and metatarsal bones.   The arched construction is inherently stronger than a level arrangement, and aids in supporting body weight.

25. Oft-baked pasta : ZITI.  In the form of large tubes.

26. Miles away : AFAR.   Proper location for loving in a pure and chaste manner.

28. Arrest : NAB. To grab, therefore to catch someone in the act or aftermath of wrong doing.

30. Adobe file format : PDF.  Portable Document Format - an electronic file form that is compatible across a variety of platforms and operating systems.

31. Head of a pub? : LOO.  Compatible British words indicating a tavern and a comfort station.

32. Prez on a fiver : ABE.  Lincoln [1809-1865] the 16th President of the United States.

34. Rodent-eating reptiles : RAT SNAKES.  Common in North America, these snakes feed primarily on rodents and birds.  Though they can grow quite large, they are docile and make lovely pets.

35. Day before a big day : EVE.  The day before Adam's RIBBING was the EVE of Eve.

36. Shucker's unit : EAR.   Of corn.  Rather like my earie humor.

39. Letter-shaped beam : I-BAR.  Named for it's cross-section profile.

40. Pita sandwich : GYRO.  Pronounced yeeroh, not homophonic with the the first two syllables of a spinning disc-plus-axis device.   The meat is a dense lamb-based meat loaf cooked on a vertical spit.  It is served on a pita with diced tomatoes and tzatziki sauce [made from yogurt and cucumbers.]  IMHO, the Senate Coney Island in Livonia has the best GYROS in the Detroit metro area.

41. Deserving : DUE.   That which one has earned.   Frex.

44. Frat party wear : TOGA.   What could I possibly add?

47. Barely flow : TRICKLE.  But more than seep or ooze.

49. Wild : MADCAP.  Like a TOGA party.

50. Hoity-toity : SNOBBY.  Like a social climbing elite wannabe.

51. Flamboyant Dame : EDNA. Everage.  One of the on-stage alter egos of Australian comedian, author, actor, artist and satirist John Barry Humphries.

52. Handmade bleachers sign : HI MOM.   This year's Hall of Fame Football Classic got cancelled because of field conditions, but 3 years ago it occurred on my Lovely Wife's birthday, and her son Doug, who was in attendance, did this, taking it up a level --

I captured this fuzzy image from the TV screen

53. Hyper : ULTRA.  Taken to the highest level.

54. Skin "Creme" in blue tins : NIVEA.    The blues.

55. Workout buff's motto opener : USE IT.   Or lose it!

57. Impish looks : GRINS.   Do any of these qualify?

No granddaughters were harmed in the making of this photo

60. SALT weapon : ICBM.   The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks/Treaty started with a meeting between LBJ and Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin 1967. Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles and defensive weapons [ABMs] to counter them were items of concern.  President Nixon and Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev signed the ABM Treaty and interim SALT agreement on May 26, 1972, in Moscow.

61. Whirlpool : EDDY.  If my name were EDDY, I wouldn't travel in those circles.

64. Metered praise : ODE.  Laudatory poem.

65. Portland Timbers' org. : MLS.  Major League Soccer.

Well, that wraps up another Wednesday.  Hope you were able to tease out all the answers, between my lame attempts at humor.

Cool regards!
JzB