Friday, Dec 18, 2015 Robin Stears

 Theme:  Igpay Atinlay

Aha!  It's this year's Christmas present from Obinray Earsstay.  She tweeted last year at this time, “It's just not Christmas unless we push our bodies to the brink of alcoholism and diabetes.”  Now there's a woman who gets it!  You can visit her for more examples of her quirky sense of humor.

As I was working this one, knowing I was going to have to 'splain it to you guys, I kept scratching my head.  What does OVERSTAY have to do with chocolate?  And in what world does EASTBAY mean “savage?”  The perps demanded that those answers be correct.  I finally came to the reveal:

 58a.  What four puzzle answers need to be written in:  PIG LATIN...and the V8 can came flying.   Utecay!

17a.  Big name in chocolate:  OVERSTAY (Stover, as in Russell)

21a.  Savage:  EASTBAY (Beast)

35a.  Loot:  UNDERPLAY (Plunder)

52a.  Lay waste to:  ASHTRAY (Trash)

Let's see what other presents Robin put under our tree...

Across:

1.      ___ appeal:  SNOB

5.       “The Girls Next Door” co-creator, for short:  HEF.  Hugh Hefner.

8.       Torus-shaped gaskets:  O-RINGS. Per Wiki:  In geometry, a torus (plural tori) is a surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle in three-dimensional space about an axis coplanar with the circle.  But you knew that...

14.      Lift one's spirits:  TOPE.  If you lift them too often.

15.      Pay dirt:  ORE

16.      Secure again:  RESEAL. [Meh]  I get it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

19.      Against:  CONTRA. In another time (and what seems like another world), the CONTRAs battled the Sandinistas for control of Nicaragua.

20.      Crème de ___:  MENTHE. Because “la Crème” was too long and “Cacao” was too short.

22.      NATO member since 2009:  ALB.  No, not American League Baseball, but the country, ALBania.  Remember, we went to war against them in Wag the Dog.

23.      Says “y'all,” say:  ELIDES.  “Resides in Texas” was way too long.  DRAWLS would have worked, though.

26.      Time of one's life:  AGE

27.      Reunion group:  CLASS. “Aunts” would have fit, too.

29.      Beats Electronics co-founder:  DRE  (See 42d.)

30.      Danube tributary:  ILLER

 Those are the Allgäu Alps in the background – beautiful area of southern Bavaria.

32.      Early 20^th-century poet ____ Crane:  HART. No idea.

33.      Layer:  PLY.  Let's see the hands of those who confidently wrote HEN.

34.      The Beatles, e.g.:  IDOLS.  Tried BRITS first.

38.      IQ test name:  BINET.  I remember those standardized Stanford-BINET tests from my ute.

40.      Abu Dhabi is its cap.:  UAE.  United Arab Emirates.  I was there in the '80's.  I asked about a Stephen King novel in a bookstore, and was told, not so politely, not to mention that name there.  Okey dokey...

41.      Sounds from toys:  ARFS.  Wasn't fooled.

45.      “_____ run!”:  GOTTA.  Or as JzB puts it, IMBO.

46.      AC/DC song with the words “I'm dynamite”:  TNT.  Easy enough to suss.

47.      Road challenge:  GLARE

48.      Pharm. drop-offs:  RXS

49.      “WarGames”  computer.  JOSHUA.  Should have remembered that.  Didn't.

51.      Muscle mag subject:  PEC.  Mag indicates it'll be an abbrv.

55.      Biblical escape obstacle:  RED SEA.  “Holy Moses, Batman!”

57.      Get hot under the collar:  SEE RED.  Could be tough to parse. RED dupe.

60.      March:  PARADE

62.      Bluster:  RANT

63.      Treat badly:  STEP ON

64.      El ___:  CID.  Spanish hero played by Charleton Heston with a cast of thousands.

65.      Energy units:  ERGS. Hello again, old cw friend.

Down:

1.       Acid producer:  STOMACH.  Should have been easy enough to guess.  Wasn't.

2.       “Breakfast at Tiffany's,” for one:  NOVELLA.  Some might recall a minor movie.

3.       Spot for free spirits:  OPEN BAR.  Nailed it.

4.       Friend of Mary Poppins:  BERT.  All perps.

5.       Monopoly buy:  HOTEL

6.       Big time:  ERA

7.       Early 2000s “SNL” standout:  FEY.  Tina.

8.       “Blackfish” creatures:  ORCAS.  Political documentary.  Nuff sed.

9.       Model T contemporaries:  REOS.  Named for Ransom Eli Olds.  Many people think the Oldsmobile was named for him.  Correctomundo!

10,      “____ that special?!”:  ISN'T . Made famous by Dana Carvey.

11.      Court surprise:  NET BALL.  Tennis, I'm guessin'.

12.      Parking places:  GARAGES

13.      Buffy, for one:  SLAYER

18.      Tom Jones' “____ a Lady”:  SHE'S

21.      Shoebox letters:  EEE

24.      Between jobs:  IDLE

25.      Rehearsals:  DRY RUNS

28.      Double's job:  STUNT. Stunt-double in the movies.

30.      Wash. neighbor:  IDA  (Washington/Idaho)

31.      Steadfast:  LOYAL

33.      Wash. hours:  PDT.  The same Wash., not D.C.

34.      Key for Debussy?:   ILE.  Debussy was a French composer, and a key is an island.

36.      Teachers' org.:  NEA.  Standard crosswordese.

37.      Buddha's Noble Eightfold ____:  PATH.  Perps to the rescue.

38.      Choice ballpark location:  BOX SEAT

39.      “I found what you're looking for!”:  IT'S HERE

42.      Drake or Nelly:  RAP STAR.  If you say so.  Actually, I had first perped it as RAPSTER, but “Bluster” = RANT, not RENT, straightened me out.

43.      Letting go: FREEING

44.      Cosine reciprocals:  SECANTS.  Thank you, high school trigonometry.

45.      Comprehends:  GRASPS

46.      Stocking stuffer:  TOY.  Tried TOE first.

47.      Certain Celt:  GAEL.  There are several Celtic languages.  GAELic is one of them.

49.      Will Smith's second son:  JADEN.  Just how were we supposed to know that?

50.      Goaded:  URGED

53.      Sting, perhaps:  TRAP.  Narcotics sting.

54.      Modernize:  REDO

56.      Have the gumption:  DARE

58.      ___-Man:  PAC.  Many a squandered hour in my younger days...

59.      In this emplacement:  ICI. More French.  Shouldn't “In this” also have been in French? Oh, well...

That'll do it for me.  Glad to have had the opportunity to fill in today.  Lemonade will be back next week with his Christmas Special, same Bat Time, same Bat Channel.  Desper-otto signing off.

Note from C.C.:

I would like to tell you about two coupled puzzles by my neighbor Steve Bachman (with some help from George Barany):  Wit and Wisdom, as explained further on this bachblog post. Even if you don't have time to try these puzzles, click on Steve's name for his inspirational personal story.

Thursday, December 17th 2015 Jeff Stillman

Theme: Read all about it. Names of magazines begin each theme entry clued in a hilarity-ensues fashion.

20. Financial magazine tracking device? : FORTUNE COOKIE. Cookie in the web browser context. For any nerds out there, the original computing cookie actually was called a fortune cookie because it contained an embedded message.

37. Newsstand selling many a human-interest magazine? : PEOPLE MOVER. My local newsstand on Laurel Canyon sells about a million titles. I don't know how the owner keeps track of them all.

44. Keeping cool with a fashion magazine? : ELLE FANNING. Teen actress, and sister of the perhaps better-known Dakota.

59. Rolled-up news magazine drifting at sea? : TIME IN A BOTTLE. This was apparently a Jim Croce hit in 1972. I'm guessing it didn't make the charts in the UK as I'd never heard of it, and listening to it on YouTube I have to confess I don't think I missed much.

Good day, all! Steve here reporting from snowy Denver and feeling glad that I remembered to pack my gloves and scarf. Scraping the snow off the windshield isn't something that I have to do very often in Studio City!

A straightforward enough theme with some Thursday-level cluing misdirection. The middle-top section came last for me due to some biblical name amnesia and aforementioned clue-trickeration.

Let's see what else we can find.

Across:

1. Covenant : BOND

5. Poorest : WORST

10. Eldest son on "Bonanza" : ADAM. "Madam, I'm Adam".

14. Snack choice : OREO. If I had a dollar for every time I've filled this into a grid, I'd have .... a lot of dollars.

15. Eldest son of Cain : ENOCH

16. City ENE of Petaluma : NAPA. It's also WSW of Sacramento and NNE of San Francisco for the direction-trivia fans in our midst.

17. Musically off : FLAT

18. Stage __ : ACTOR

19. A four beats it : TREY. Here's aptly-numbered Trey Burke, Utah Jazz point guard.

23. Earliest stage : ONSET

24. Abbr. on a business card : TEL

25. Family guy : DAD

28. Credit card bill list : DEBTS. Odd clue - I'd say a credit card bill is a list of charges, not debts.

32. Development sites : UTERI. Not a word most people use pretty much - ever.

34. World currency org. : I.M.F. The International Monetary Fund.

40. Spring tide counterpart : NEAP. The spring tide is when there is the greatest distance between low and high tide. The neap tide is when there is the least difference.

42. Pleasant surprise : TREAT

43. Salon option : TINT

47. Wager : LAY

48. Green sauce : PESTO Food! What to make when you've got a shed-load of basil. Traditionally made with pine nuts, but these are so expensive nowadays almonds are often substituted.

49. Horse-drawn wagons : DRAYS. I enjoyed this. I used to live near Young's Brewery in London and they continued to deliver beer to local pubs by dray well into the 1980's. The horses were more economical over short distances than diesel-fueled trucks.

51. Golf bag item : TEE

52. One who helps break the case : RAT

55. Piece between steps : RISER. Do you know your nosings from your stringers? Staircases are fraught with specialist vocabulary.

64. Biblical preposition : UNTO. Topically "Unto us a child is born".

66. Pot boiler : STOVE

67. Camera feature : IRIS

68. Singer Redbone : LEON. Thanks, crosses. I need to "bone" up on my Cyprus-born Canadian/American ragtime/jazz singers.

69. Bygone : OLDEN

70. Au naturel : NUDE. Stop snickering at the back.

71. Deep-six : TOSS. Originally referred to a depth of six fathoms, or 36 feet. It was difficult to recover something from this far below the surface.

72. Dukes and barons : PEERS

73. Proofreading mark : STET

Down:

1. Smashing, in show biz : BOFFO. I love this word, and the various headlines in Variety magazine that spawn some great slang words: "Boffo at the B.O."

2. Synthetic fabric : ORLON. Fill in ON and wait for the crosses.

3. Verges on : NEARS

4. Like staccato notes : DOTTED "Dit dit dit dit dit dit ....."

5. Withdraw by degrees : WEAN. Tricky area for me here today. This and the next four downs caused some slow going.

6. Back in the day : ONCE. I tried "THEN" first, and along with trying OPEC below I was way off base.

7. Drilling gp. : ROTC. Parade ground drilling, not oil wells.

8. Hotfoot it : SCOOT

9. Sharp pang : THROE. Not often felt outside of crosswords. The plural is more likely to be encountered in day-to-day speech, and often misused. You need to be in the middle of something painful or unpleasant to be "in the throes of" that situation.

10. Not backing : ANTI

11. Big risk taker : DAREDEVIL

12. Gorilla, for one : APE

13. Possibly will : MAY

21. The Miners of Conf. USA : U.T.E.P. Nailed it! University of Texas at El Paso.

22. "Project Runway" host : KLUM. I know of Heidi, I don't know the show. A friend of mine occasionally provides security for her in Los Angeles, and describes her as completely down-to-earth and a pleasure to work for.

26. Sports spot : ARENA

27. Unscrupulous : DIRTY

29. __ blocker : BETA. Commonly taken to alleviate high blood pressure caused by misuse of the word "throes".

30. In a quandary : TORN

31. Lay out : SPEND

33. Preschooler : TOT

34. All thumbs : INEPT. There is no good reason that I can find why "ept" is not a word meaning "capable".

35. Fracas : MELEE

36. Some doo-wop voices : FALSETTOS. High ones.

38. Bestial hideaway : LAIR

39. Mount near Catania : ETNA. I didn't know where Catania was, but it didn't stop me from filling this in without a thought.

41. Like a preferred theory : PET

45. Diving judge's concern : FORM

46. Sandwich with tzatziki sauce : GYRO. Yum! Here-o, jeer-o, jire-o, whatever you like to call it.

50. Peaceful protests : SIT-INS

53. Notable author of animal tales : AESOP

54. Proof of ownership : TITLE

56. Walk like Jagger : STRUT. A little late in the expo for a music link, but I couldn't resist this one. Here's Maroon 5 and Christine Aguilera. Check out the interview clips with a very young Mick. If you're a Stones fan like me, be sure to look out for the documentary "Crossfire Hurricane" if you ever see it pop up on your TV listings.

57. Skip over, in speech : ELIDE

58. Pedometer button : RESET

60. Physics particles : IONS

61. Point of connection : NODE

62. State categorically : AVER

63. Uncle __ : BEN'S. I buy my rice in 10lb sacks from the Asian markets for about the same price as an 8oz box of the supermarket brands.

64. Final: Abbr. : ULT

65. Prefix with con : NEO. Although usually used to refer to a neo-conservative, the word actually is a trademark of the group who organizes an annual commercial interior design exposition. Who knew?

That's about it from me. Heading back to the warmer climes of SoCal after my brief dose of a Colorado winter. See you all next week!

Steve

Note from C.C.:

I'd like to introduce you to Adopt an Inmate, a cause Melissa has been championing the past two years. Read that article in Melissa's blog post. I can't tell you what a caring and inspiring sister Melissa is.

Wednesday, December 16, 2015, Craig Stowe

Theme: Five Easy Pieces

Craig's just right Wednesday puzzle reminded me instantly of this movie below. Taking literary license to count the theme reveal as a piece, our midweek exercise literally had Five Easy Pieces of a Piano. In the movie the five easy pieces represent tortured Bobby Dupea's first book of PIANO PIECES/exercises.

All right, it took me three clues to get the gimmick since HAMMER and KEY were not enough but PEDAL cinched it. DUH! My sympathy goes out to piano teachers who have to listen to Twinkle, Twinkle being pecked out laboriously as their student's first Easy Piece!

Theme answers

18. Olympic event featuring a 16-pound ball : HAMMER THROW - Felt covered string striker or a ball and chain Olympic Event

24. Major court rulings : KEY DECISIONS - Those 88 ebony and ivory pieces or certainly this KEY DECISION

39. Speedster's motto : PEDAL TO THE METAL  - Foot operated levers to modify a piano's sound or leave it to Steven to have a twist on PEDAL-initiated acceleration 

50. Particle physics concept : STRING THEORY - What actually vibrates in the piano or???

...and the Theme Reveal

60. Gershwin's preludes, e.g. ... and the starts of 18-, 24-, 39- and 50-Across : PIANO PIECES - Compositions for the PIANO or its parts (HAMMERS, KEYS, STRINGS and PEDALS, etc. all shown here). Hey, a harp really is a naked piano!

Now let's examine the other PIECES of Craig's fine entry -

Across   

    
1. Pal to text "<3" symbols to : BFF - Man, I thought I was so clever when I put in LES as < is the symbol for less than. I thought I was in for a puzzle full of such math symbolism

4. __ Road: WWII supply route to China : BURMA - Allies flew over "The Hump" (Himalayas) in Japanese-controlled Burma to supply Chiang with material in China so they could keep fighting Japan 

9. Michael of Monty Python : PALIN - Michael, no relation to the former Alaska governor 

14. Bud's partner : LOU - "Who's on first?"  "Of course he is!"

15. Best of the best : A-TEAM

16. Stop on Chicago's Blue Line : O'HARE - Cubs game from O'HARE? Blue Line to Addison station and then the #152 East Bus to Wrigley

17. Coastal bird : ERN

20. Skin blemish : ACNE

22. Medicinal houseplant : ALOE

23. __ farm : ANT - $19.99 with 25 live ANTS from Amazon.com 

29. Beehive State college squad : UTES 

30. Clad : ATTIRED 

34. Selective way to order : ALA CARTE - I'll just take a #2 with a Sprite (skip this Steve!)

38. "Make it happen" : DO SO - Picard's line has elements of the clue and fill

43. Part of JFK: Abbr. : INIT

44. Emerges : COMES OUT - Like the Sun for Annie Tomorrow!

45. Vouches for : ATTESTS

49. Meat : GIST

55. Irritate : IRK - What the waitress did to Bobby Dupea in the iconic diner scene in Five Easy Pieces

58. Coleridge work : RIME - A statue honoring Coleridge in Somerset, England where the Ancient Mariner bears his famous winged burden from The RIME

59. Adjuration : PLEA

65. "You don't say!" : DUH

66. When a "Macbeth" witch says, "Something wicked this way comes" : ACT IV - Says Witch 2

67. Idolize : ADORE

68. Spanish pronoun : ESO

69. Moriarty's creator : DOYLE - Sherlock always BESTS (49 Down yesterday) him

70. 2015 World Series player, for short : NY MET -  I remember that series a little differently 

71. Classic car : REO
 
Down
 
1. Not promising : BLEAK

2. "Star Wars" power, with "the" : FORCE - I'm NOT  lining up for tickets for the next movie in this franchise that starts Friday 

3. Comical : FUNNY

4. Scrooge interjection : BAH - There's not a ghost of a chance that he keeps that perspective

5. "Respect for Acting" author Hagen : UTA

6. Sleep stage : REM

7. Half a pop quartet : MAMAS - This group will perform in our town on January 22, 2016 covering The Mamas and Papas and other 60's groups. It's already sold out

8. Bedelia of kiddie lit : AMELIA - "No, Amelia! When I said make us a chicken dinner, I didn't mean serve us cracked corn!"

9. Strong : POTENT

10. Contented sound : AHH

11. Croft of video games : LARA - Well, what would you wear to raid a tomb?

12. Word before man or maiden : IRON

13. Eye source for a dramatic cauldron : NEWT - Clever!

19. Plant part : ROOT

21. Schools : EDUCATES

25. Short list shortener : ET AL

26. Marriage doc. : CERT - ...or do you remember the ad slogan that went with these CERTS?

27. What a colon means, in analogies : IS TO - Guitar : (IS TO) Cello as Segovia: (IS TO) _____

28. Avoid : SIDE STEP - "No one wants to hear about my tax evasion, let's talk about Syria!"

31. __-Rooter : ROTO

32. Old Testament twin : ESAU

33. Nitwit : DOLT

34. Capital of Samoa : APIA - Yep, even in APIA, Samoa "You deserve a break today"

35. Mardi Gras follower : LENT

36. Mine entrance : ADIT

37. Short list shortener : ETC 

40. Boss on "The Dukes of Hazzard" : HOGG - Ah, ya cain't beat the classics! 

41. Exude : EMIT

42. Screen door stuff : MESH - We had to retrofit our screen door to kitty-proof mesh. 

46. Tried hard : STROVE

47. Vacation plan : TRIP

48. Apelike : SIMIAN

51. Down-and-out : NEEDY - NEEDY people aren't necessarily down-and-out

52. More mature : OLDER

53. Reduce, __, Recycle : REUSE - What you can do with old milk cartons

54. Bumpkin : YAHOO

55. Microsoft Surface alternative : I PAD

56. Puerto __ : RICO

57. "Teenage Dream" singer Perry : KATY - She hasn't spoken to her husband of 14 months, Russell Brand, after he texted her on New Year's Eve 2011 that he was divorcing her 

61. Nothing : NIL

62. Site attachment? : COM

63. Afore : ERE

64. Firmed up, as plans : SET

Now you can enter any comments you have on PIANO PIECES, Chess Pieces, Reese's Pieces, et al, etc...

Husker Gary 

Tuesday, December 15, 2015 C.W. Stewart

Theme: Where's my cape? - Actually, it's PACE that has been changed up and hidden in the middle of the theme entries.

20A. Madison or Jackson, e.g. : STATE CAPITAL. Wisconsin/Mississippi

32A. Workplace social event : OFFICE PARTY. 'Tis the season.

41A. Camper's gift from home : CARE PACKAGE

53A. Deviation from a normal routine, and a hint to this puzzle's circles : CHANGE OF PACE

Argyle here. We've gone from C.C. to C.W. There are circles and they help but the jumbled letters are easy to spot if you sussed the reveal.

Across:

1. Big name in designer bags : PRADA

6. Wild guess : STAB

10. "Oh, darn!" : "DRAT!"

14. Edmonton NHL player : OILER. (hockey)

15. Caen's river : ORNE. In Normandy, northwestern France.

16. World's longest river : NILE. The Orne, 110 mi; the Nile, 4,258 mi; both 4 letters.

17. Gets dirty : SOILS

18. Facts and figures : DATA

19. "My life. My card" co. : AMEX

23. Start of something? : ESS

24. Figs. : NOs. (numbers)

25. Golf lesson subject : STANCE

29. Little taste : SIP. Neat!

30. Illegal diamond pitch : SPITBALL

36. MADD concern : DUI

37. Scottish denials : NAEs

38. Many a Monopoly rd. : AVE.

39. "__ No Sunshine": Bill Withers hit : AIN'T

40. Emancipation Proclamation first name : ABE

45. Like the Titanic : ILL-FATED

47. Monk's title : FRA

48. Put up a fight : RESIST

49. Bikini part : BRA

50. Float up and down : BOB. Must Resist Mental Picture. gave in(1:29)

57. Traffic complaint : [HONK!]

60. Prejudicial view : BIAS

61. Churchgoer's donation : TITHE

62. Figure skating leap : AXEL

63. Tackling a problem : ON IT

64. Bygone anesthetic : ETHER

65. Shopping bag : TOTE

66. Cravings : YENS

67. Salon employees : DYERS

Down:

1. Wild West law group : POSSE

2. Laugh-a-minute types : RIOTS

3. Name after 39-Down : ALIAS. 39D. Police blotter letters : AKA. "Also Known As"

4. Shoulder muscle, informally : DELT. (Deltoid)

5. Pesticide poison : ARSENIC

6. Coke and Pepsi : SODAs

7. Catch : TRAP

8. Voting against : ANTI

9. Skedaddles : BEATS IT

10. "CSI" facility : DNA LAB

11. Canyon edge : RIM

12. Pub choice : ALE. and 52D. Pub choices : BEERS

13. Apt name for a Dallas cowboy? : TEX

21. Deal with it : COPE

22. Divorce proceeding rep. : ATTY. (attorney)

26. Gymnast Comaneci : NADIA

27. Stuck : CLUNG

28. A-list group : ELITE

29. Sally, to Charlie Brown : SIS. (little sister)

30. Fed the piggy bank : SAVED

31. Word in some private school names : PREP. Preparatory school for further education.

32. Broadcasting : ON AIR

33. Story with a lesson : FABLE

34. Senses : FEELS

35. Remove, as a rind : PARE

41. Payment option : CASH

42. "Way to go, kid!" : "ATTA BOY!"

43. Hardly a buzz cut : AFRO

44. Skillfully made : CRAFTED

46. Prone to flip-flopping : FICKLE. Remember the Flying Fickle Finger of Fate?

49. Triumphs over : BESTs

50. Get clean : BATHE

51. Earth pigment : OCHER

54. Four and five, but not six and seven : NINE. 9, not 13.

55. Dieter's setback : GAIN

56. "That's a shame" : PITY

57. Bowler or boater : HAT

58. Kitchen gadgets brand : OXO

59. Common URL ending : .NET

Argyle