Sunday, January 1, 2017, Don Gagliardo and C.C. Burnikel

I am typing this as quietly as I can to accommodate those of you whose partying with 17. __ beverage : ADULT was quite extensive. Happy New Year to all our Crossword Friends here at the Corner! Should Old Acquaintance NOT be forgot!


TITLE: "WHAT HAPPENED THEN" Don and C.C. have a very lovely puzzle to start off our New Year and it became a lot easier for me when I realized the title did NOT have a  question mark after it. Rather their theme fills were actual events that occurred 100 years prior to the year which we are now entering. 

Husker Gary here on New Year's Day after blogging puzzles on Pearl Harbor Day and The Winter Solstice, I get to do the first one of the year.

The big American event of that year was the entry of the USA into WWI and Don and C.C. even offered a reference to that with these two fills

116. Subject of an act passed in 1917 : SELECTIVE SERVICE

67. American citizenship grantee in 1917 : PUERTO RICAN - The First Puerto Rican Regiment. Many thought that Puerto Ricans were only granted citizenship so they could fight for America in WWI

The non-war 1917 theme fills:

22. Fundraising items first sold in 1917 : GIRL SCOUT COOKIES - During rationing in WWII, their fundraisers switched temporarily to calendars

28. Treats inspired by a coal miner in 1917 : MOON-PIES - Somehow these two became a "thing"

42. World Series winner in 1917 : CHICAGO WHITE SOX - With Shoeless Joe Jackson. Two years after this 1917 ad they were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series and became known derisively as the Black Sox.

91. America bought it from Denmark in 1917 : US VIRGIN ISLANDS - Formerly Danish West Indies, includes St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John and some minor islands. Almost named for Admiral Dewey.

108. Orphanage founded in 1917 : BOYS TOWN - It used to be a farm 6 miles west of Omaha but is now midtown. BT recently sold much of their farm ground for $37M as it now concentrates on academics and trade programs for Boys AND Girls. 

Now let's look at C.C.'s and Don's always wonderful cluing/fill:


Across

1. Olympian queen : HERA 

5. Bad attention-getter in a crowded bar : PSST

9. Baker/literacy advocate Wally who hosted "Learn to Read" : AMOS 

13. Big name in romance novels : AVON - The Publishing Company

19. Goddess who saved infant Zeus from Cronus : RHEA

20. Hair-raising : SCARY

21. Big do : GALA

25. Additional decision-making factors : ANDS

26. "Don't move" : STAY PUT - The Steelers' left end and tackle are required to STAY PUT until the ball is snapped even if the Patriots jumped. They didn't, so it was a penalty.

27. Person : SOUL

30. Sore spot : LESION

32. Flight parts : STEPS

34. Valencian rice dish : PAELLA - Some pronunciation options: pah-ey-luh, -eyl-yuh, pah-yel-uh; Spanish pah-e-lyah, -e-yah

35. Frame of Elmer, e.g. : CEL - This one signed by Friz Freleng runs $1,400

37. Cpls., e.g. : NCO'S

39. "I get it now!" : AHA

40. Bach's east : OST - Boy's Town ist 30 km zu meiner OST (Boy's Town is 30 km to my east)

41. She plays Watson in "Elementary" : LIU

47. Hoppy brew, for short : IPA

49. More than help with : DO FOR

50. Fabled thorn victim : LION - The Aesop Fable about the slave Androcles whose merciful act was repaid later in the Circus Maximus when the LION spared him

51. "Nice job!" reply : I TRY

52. Bishop's agent : VICAR

55. Site with a Pill Identification Tool : WEB MD

57. Have choice words for : SWEAR AT

59. Modern problem solver : TECHIE - Remember that kid you laughed at in school?

60. Some microbrews : RYE BEERS

62. "Fantastic Mr. Fox" director Anderson : WES

63. Pile on : ADD - Competence is always punished!

64. Column width unit : PICA - The two typewriter choices we had back in the 60's. Er, that would be 1960's!

71. Slant : BIAS - Good luck finding journalism without a BIAS

72. Gp. once led by Charles Mayo : AMA - This Mayo was the son of the Mayo clinic founder and headed the AMA in 1933

73. Book with entries : LOG - An electronic LOG

74. Black box, e.g. : RECORDER - One recovered from a plane crash

76. Surgical knife : LANCET

78. Desk accessory : BLOTTER

81. Slow period : SLACK - Winter for the golf courses I frequent

84. Split : END IT

85. Serving two purposes : DUAL

86. Starting on : AS OF - AS OF today I should start to lose some weight. If only there were no potato chips! Sigh...

88. Sidestep : AVOID

90. They may be checked at the door : ID'S - Would they really check ID'S for this event?

94. Letters in early dates : BCE - Before Common Era - Used by some to not offend non-Christians

96. Prefix with fiction : ECO

98. Middle __ : AGE

99. Granny : NANA

100. Hubbub : ADO

101. Words of concern : OH DEAR

103. Stern with strings : ISAAC

105. UPS Store customer : SENDER 

110. Many antique radios : RCA'S 

112. Crumbly English cheese : STILTON - Semi hard, crumbly cheese with characteristic blue streaks

115. Tantrum-prone one : BRAT

119. Like some ducks? : LAME - One occupies 1600 Pennsylvania today

120. Full of chutzpah : BRASH

121. Philosopher Descartes : RENE

122. Dry runs : TESTS

123. "What __?" : ELSE

124. Sources of pliable wood : YEWS - Utilized thusly (first time I've ever used that word!)

125. Column that's beside the point? : ONES - Like the 6 in 176.932

126. "Immediately!" : STAT


Down

1. Fairy tale heavies : HAGS

2. Ready for publication : EDIT

3. Grandma Moses subject : RURAL LIFE

4. "O Come, __ Faithful" : ALL YE - "Adeste, fideles, laeti triumphantes"

5. Code of conduct : PROTOCOL

6. Moo __ pork : SHU

7. Collectors' goals : SETS - Part of a complete SET of 1961 Topps Baseball cards. I know C.C. and Boomer would love to own this.

8. Shells from stands : TACOS

9. "That's terrible!" : ACK

10. Seriously injures : MAIMS

11. Dairy Queen Blizzard flavor : OREO

12. Online admins : SYSOPS - SYStem OPeratorS 

13. Wonder-struck : AGAPE

14. Dunkin' Donuts order : VANILLA CHAI - $1.89 here

15. Yale nickname : OLD ELI

16. Onetime Bahamian pirate base : NASSAU

18. Spice amts. : TSPS

20. Only child, maybe : SOLE HEIR

23. Teleprompter's job : CUING

24. Tagged before reaching, as home : OUT AT - Yer outta there! A C.C. puzzle without baseball? Are you new here?

29. Restless folk? : NATIVES

31. "Ah ... okay" : NOW I SEE and 61. Software glitch : BUG - Well of course, there it is

33. Common meal for a tight budget : PASTA

35. Looped in, briefly : CC'D - Carbon Copy becomes the abbreviation CC and then a past tense verb CC'D as in a copy has been sent. What an elastic language we have.

36. Website with detailed instructions : EHOW

38. Athlete's refreshment? : SHOWER

40. Clearasil competitor : OXY

43. Lethal snake : COBRA 

44. Large group : ARMY - This ARMY lost its leader in 2016

45. Like noble gases : INERT

46. Table scrap : ORT

48. Short shot? : PIC - Plural pix

53. Musical with the song "The Gods Love Nubia" : AIDA - From Elton John's and Tim Rice's adaptation of Verdi

54. Joey Votto's team : REDS

56. Rail stop : DEPOT

58. Of __ : somewhat : A SORT

59. Pays attention (to) : TENDS 

62. String of engagements : WAR

64. Like some ale : PALE

65. David Bowie's love : IMAN

66. Holiday sides : CANDIED YAMS - This is not haute cuisine, but is a favorite here!  and 73. "I'm starving!" : LET' S EAT

68. Change the price of : RETAG

69. Traps during a storm, perhaps : ICES IN

70. Circles of light : CORONAS

71. Diva's reward : BRAVA

75. Star of David displayer : EL AL - Israel's airline

77. El Cantar de mío __: Castilian epic poem : CID

78. Blue Bird vehicle : BUS - Their first one was on a 1927 Ford chassis and is now in the Henry Ford Museum 

79. Volcanic flows : LAVAS

80. Member of a small ruling class : OLIGARCH

82. Hustler : CON ARTIST - "Fast Eddie Felson" to us Paul Newman fans

83. Scottish pirate : KIDD

85. Key & Peele, e.g. : DUO 

87. Handles skillfully : FINESSES

89. Brit. medal : DSO

92. Flinch, say : REACT

93. "À votre __!" : SANTE - "To your health" en français

94. Fielding error : BOBBLE 

95. Like Beethoven's Ninth : CHORAL - Gives me goosebumps

97. 2016 Conn Smythe Trophy recipient Sidney : CROSBY - That's the NHL MVP trophy. I wonder what he got for this performance. 

102. Big name in beauty : ESTEE

103. Relative challenge for some : IN-LAW 

104. African capital : CAIRO

106. Lowdown : DIRT - TMZ seems to get it first and right. Ray Rice (corrected from Ray Lewis) was only getting a couple NFL games suspension until TMA produced the actual video of him hitting his wife.

107. Fabled toy makers : ELVES

109. "__ in this together!" : WE'RE

111. Kristoff's pet reindeer in "Frozen" : SVEN

113. Numerical prefix : OCTA

114. Tree squirrel's drey, e.g. : NEST - A drey is literally the name for a squirrel's NEST

117. Slalom curve : ESS - Yup!

118. Dallas-to-Memphis dir. : ENE

Our maiden 2017 Grid

How 'ya gonna kick off 2017 better than C.C. and her masked companion Don Hard G? Alright, I made up that masked part but still, they're great together and singularly!

I hereby resolve to let other voices to be heard! So, have at it!

Saturday, Dec 31st, 2016, Patti Varol & Doug Peterson

Theme: PV & DP

Words: 70 (missing K,Q)

Blocks: 30

Our third installment from this duo to close out 2016, and this time Patti gets 'top billing'.  A smattering of fills on my first pass, a few gaffes, a few WAGs, and I called it done - but no ta-DA~!  So I had to go back and check where I went wrong, though I was fairly certain it was in the spanner at 34a.; turned out I had another mistake at the proper name for 42a.   Oh well.  Finished within my personal allotted time, and now I am freezing as I compose the write-up; see 31a.  One 15-letter spanner, one 15-letter climber, two 12-letter fills, and paired 10s in the down corners;

34. First volume of a Beverly Cleary series : BEEZUS AND RAMONA - I recognized the author's name, but only the "Ramona" part from any titles

8. "You're skating on thin ice" : DON'T EVEN GO THERE - I had "eveR", since I had no idea about the 15-letter spanner crossing here

23. They're hard to put down : PAGE TURNERS - nailed it.  The last Page Turner I read was "The Racketeer" from John Grisham - now I am on to "The Broker".  I was reluctant to read his stuff because I knew the books revolved around lawyers (and frequently jails/prisons, too) the way Crichton's revolves around genetics, Patterson & Kellerman around murder mystery, etc. - but I am glad I started with "The Litigators", which was quite humorous

43. Comedy team staples : STRAIGHT MEN - I have heard this phrase, but couldn't think of an example - and then I read the list here at the Wiki, and I see quite a few I recognize - which includes James May from the British Top Gear series

2O1seveNWARD~!

ACROSS:

1. Not much : JUST A TAD

9. "__ Weeks": classic Van Morrison album : ASTRAL

15. Caravaggio masterpiece that pictures Pontius Pilate with Jesus : ECCE HOMO - the painting

16. Raise : PARENT

17. Iconic building with "point" offices : FLATIRON - dah~! Not PENTAGON, tho I realize there would need to be the phrase "with THE" in the clue

18. Market array : BRANDS

19. What stars have : FAME - I tried EGOS

20. Specialty docs : ENTs

22. In order : TIDY

26. Dauntless : STOUT

29. Spray holder : VASE - ah - I forgot that a "spray" is kind of floral arrangement

30. Site of monkey business : ZOO

31. Get a winter coat? : ICE UP - I am afraid my apartment will ICE UP this weekend - we lost the furnace, which includes the hot water, and won't get repaired until Tuesday.  Always on a holiday weekend....

32. Part of an inheritance : GENE - ah, that kind of inheritance

33. River to the Severn : AVON - another good WAG

37. Cornerstone word : ANNO - I figured EST'D was not going to last

38. Hauls : LUGS - I had TOWS to start

39. 2009 A.L. MVP Joe : MAUER - filled via perps

40. Spectrum band : RED

41. 1969-'70 Broadway musical that ends with a fashion show : COCO

42. Brandt of "Breaking Bad" : BETSY - beSsy seemed just as likely - I have not watched a single episode of this show, but I got a Firestick for Christmas from my landlord, so I can watch everything now - but first I am making my way through "Burn Notice"

46. Benjamin portrayer : HAWN - Goldie, as in Private Benjamin; I was thinking BRAD or PITT, for Benjamin Button

47. Cries of surprise : O-HOs - oops, went with A-HAs

48. John follower : ACTS - Bible chapters

52. Fleet destroyed by the Protestant Wind : ARMADA

54. Ovid, for one : EPIC POET

56. More expensive : DEARER - started as DEEPER

57. Bought back : REDEEMED - Blue Öyster Cult song, too

Redeemed

58. Joshua tree habitat : DESERT - as for what got filled in first, I WILL NOT EVEN GO THERE

59. Tests using Snellen charts : EYE EXAMS

I can read line 7

DOWN:

1. Bridges of Los Angeles County : JEFF - once I changed my "building", this actor's name (and not a structure) occurred to me

2. Home of the Herb Alpert Sch. of Music : UCLA - I had the U and A

3. Hustle : SCAM - ah, the noun, not the verb

4. Head of the Sorbonne? : TÊTE - Frawnche

5. Sushi choice : AHI - made my PENTAGON wrong

6. Eagerly unwrapped : TORE AT - Not even a week ago - I got a Millennium Falcon Bluetooth music player

7. In with : AMONG

9. SFPD alert : APB

10. "Nausea" novelist : SARTRE - I recognize the name, but not much else - the Wiki

11. Express, say : TRAIN

12. Orbital maneuver : RENDEZVOUS - learned this word from reading the 'adapted' novel of The Empire Strikes Back - but I was about 9, and read it literally as ren-dez-vows

13. "Years of Minutes" author : ANDY ROONEY - good WAG with the "OO" in place

14. SFPD ranks : LTs

21. Resolute policies : STANDS

23. __ platter : PU PU

24. One working on keys : USER - computer keys

25. Wreck locator : SONAR - shipwrecks

26. When, in Act IV, Juliet drinks the potion : SCENE THREE

27. "The O.C." and "Gossip Girl" : TEEN DRAMAS - never watched any of them

28. Taverna liqueur : OUZO

31. Structural pieces : I-BARS

32. Riata twirler : GAUCHO

33. Basic Latin word : AMAT - ah.  I had AMAS

35. Rough going : SLOG - popular Saturday Crossword descriptor

36. "Yes!" : AMEN

41. __ block : CINDER

42. Next to : BESIDE - the blue-eyed girl from some time back sat BESIDE me yesterday - my heart was galloping in my chest....

44. Clued in : AWARE

45. Glum : MOPEY

48. Crown : APEX

49. Food __: after-eating drowsiness : COMA - did not suffer this on either holiday this year

50. Come down hard : TEEM - like rain

51. FDA output : STDs - Tried RDAs first

52. Throw into the mix : ADD

53. "The lie that enables us to realize the truth": Picasso : ART - I think I just read this in a book on novel writing

Cubism, get it~?

55. Volcano center? : CEE - VolCano

Splynter

Friday, December 30, 2016, Jeffrey Wechsler

Title: We play the game to WIN!

Returning to the perch he ruled in 2016, is JW with a superb reveal. With two grid spanners and two 13 letter fill, he packs 56 letters in the theme answers, each of which has WIN inside twice. This would be a somewhat pedestrian theme for a wit like JW, but for the perfect 15 letter reveal. In life I am tired of people trying to talk me into WIN WIN situations but the puzzle was great. There is so much nice fill such as INNARDS,  EGOTIST, DISRAELI,  ESTONIAN,  SCARED OF,  THE PRADO, IS IT ENOUGH,  I WON'T DANCE.  Let's solve this puppy!

17A. Its B-side was "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" : BLOW'IN IN THE WIND (15). I really lucked out here as I was a big Bob Dylan fan when this came out. I saw the WIN WIN right away. I used sing Don't Think Twice, It's All Right to myself in my Junior year in high school. LISTEN.

25A. Portable ventilation option : TWIN WINDOW FAN (13). I was not positive THIS existed, but it had win/win, so....

43A. Repair shop vehicle features : TOWING WINCHES (13). Then we see this DEVICE.
The reveal!

57A. Mediator's goal ... and what's found in three puzzle answers : WIN WIN SITUATION (15).

Across:

1. British prime minister before and after Gladstone : DISRAELI. If you like history this was quite a RIVALRY.

9. Fifth-century conqueror : ATTILA. He is extremely popular in the Xword world.

15. Baltic native : ESTONIAN. Across the sea from Finland sits this COUNTRY.

16. A quarter of the time? : SEASON. Really fun clue and fill; one of the four seasons.

19. Flower part : SEPAL.

20. Actor Daniel __ Kim : DAE. From LOST to the reboot of Hawaii 5-0, he works. LINK.

21. Bony opening : OSTEO.

22. Arising from : BORN OF.

24. Miss, say : ERR.

31. 1976 African uprising site : SOWETO. This HISTORY is too political to discuss here, but....

32. Longtime NBC hit : SNL. Saturday Night Live.

33. Flip-flop revelations : TOES. What a cute way to clue feet and toes.

36. Armada leaders? : PROWS. They stick out in front as they are the portion of a ship's bow above water

37. Bewilder : STUMP.

38. Email status : SENT.

39. Sallie __ : MAE. Student loan debt.

42. Bad mark : STIGMA.

46. Criterion: Abbr. : STD. Standard.

48. Cast components : ACTORS.

49. Overflowing (with) : AWASH.

51. Suffix indicating residency : ITE.

52. "Just like me" : AS AM I.

60. Los Angeles region bordering Tarzana : ENCINO.

61. Fearing : SCARED OF.

62. Judged : DEEMED. A favorite word in Orders.

63. Where to see Velázquez's "Las Meninas" : THE PRADO. The MUSEUM for art in Spain.

Down:

1. Aristocratic newcomers : DEBS. Debutantes.

2. Key : ISLE. A gimme for any Floridian.

3. Block : STOP.

4. Seats by the orchestra pit : ROW A. This took an extra second to parse.

5. Blue dye : ANIL.

6. A, in Augsburg : EIN.

7. Applied, as stucco : LAID ON.

8. Working parts : INNARDS. Does not sound like a real word but it IS.

9. Etna ejection : ASH. Volcanic by nature.

10. Irk : TEE OFF .3. Slang To make angry or disgusted: The impertinent remarks teed the speaker off.

11. Shooting marbles : TAWS. plural noun: taws, a large marble. Nope, not me.

12. "Can we do more?" : IS IT ENOUGH. Perps all the way.

13. Hardly a bon vivant : LONER. One who loves life is seldom alone.

14. Words with a slash : AND/OR.

18. Mortise partner : TENON. You want know HOW?

22. CV section : BIO. The CurriculumVitae has education, work and biographic information.

23. Symbol of wisdom : OWL. I see a mini-theme. The modern West generally associates owls with wisdom. This link goes back at least as far as Ancient Greece, where Athens, noted for art and scholarship, and Athena, Athens' patron goddess and the goddess of wisdom, had the owl as a symbol. Add this to 30D. Story of Greek origin : ATTIC. This was a nice twist to force us to recall that in ancient Athens where the dialect of Greek used and the chief literary form of classical Greek was Attic.

25. Kitchen amts. : TSPS.

26. Modeled : WORE.

27. Jerome Kern title lyric preceding "don't ask me" : I WON' T DANCE. Nit. The music was written by Mr. Kern but not the lyrics. There were two sets of lyrics with the one sung by Fred Astaire in the movie Roberta, the one that became famous. Sinatra also covered the song.

28. Never before experienced by : NEW TO.

29. Oz. and lb. : WTS. Weights.

34. Soaps actress Rylan : EMME. We had her in September. Anyone remember?

35. Luxuriating locales : SPAS.

37. RR map dot : STN. Station.

39. __ drop : MIC. Filled by perps but it is POPULAR.

40. They're against it : ANTIS.

41. Tough person to bargain with : EGOTIST. You think it was accidental this clue is next to...

42. Kim, to Khloé : SIS.

44. "Hawaii Five-0" extra, perhaps : WAHINE.  All of our past corner Hawaii people know this is a Polynesian woman or wife.

45. Unfortunate sort : WRETCH.

46. Cut : SAWED.

47. It's often found in a ball : TWINE. Cute.

50. Part of an exercise regimen : SWIM.

52. Marketer of Medigap insurance plans : AARP.

53. Dump annex? : STER. Dumpster.

54. Opera set in Egypt : AIDA.

55. Disposition : MOOD.

56. It may be classified, briefly : INFO.

58. Okay : NOD.

59. Home of the Burj Kalifa: Abbr. : UAE. United Arab Emirate. There are SEVEN emirates. The Burj is the 163 story tallest structure at the moment.

Well we have done it again, and for last time in 2016. Thank you all for riding with us most Fridays; thank you Jeffrey for providing so many great Friday puzzles, and of course thank you C.C. for this blog and for being who you are. Lemonade out