Saturday, Nov 24th, 2012, Brad Wilber

Theme: None

Words: 72

Blocks: 30

 A very solvable and not-so-intimidating puzzle from one of our getting-to-be very regular Saturday contributors, Brad Wilber.  With the nice run of "XYZ", this is also a pangram, which we haven't had in some time on a Saturday.  4 corners of triple-stacked 7's, and one grid spanner today;

35. Garden blooms named for medieval music makers : CANTERBURY BELLS

 

Only 8 3-letter words, and not much in the way of proper nouns/names or foreign words, too, at least the ones here were 'gettable' for me~!

 OnwarD~!

 ACROSS:

1. Cup holder site : ARMREST - ah, not CONSOLE, like the center one in your car

8. Pedestrian : PROSAIC - this word always makes me think of "Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz" from "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" - dangerous poetry ~!

15. New Jersey City across from Staten Island : BAYONNE - map

16. Play that inspired Puccini : LA TOSCA

17. 19th-century literary trio : BRONTËS - some Wiki for the curious

18. Not 26-Down : UNIFIED - and 26D. Like exes : APART - uh, that's where I'm at; the latter

19. Pickett's Charge soldier : REB - The South, in the Civil War

20. Some moves, briefly : RELOs - Re-locations, as in moving house, right Dennis?

22. First family when D.C.'s earliest cherry trees were planted : TAFTS - William Howard Taft was president from 1909-1913; I was surprised it was in the 20th century

23. 1790s diplomatic powder keg : XYZ AFFAIR - Involving the newly formed US of A and France - funny, but I had ADAMS as the first family at 22A - or is that ADAMSES???

25. Chianti container : CARAFE

28. Takes off the shoulder, perhaps : TOWS - oh, could have been DF, but this is just a car needing a ride to the mechanic

29. La Paz-to-Montevideo dir. : SSE - just like I was talking about last week....

32. Expeditiously : APACE - OK, so an "A" word....

33. Miami Dolphins uniform color : AQUA - ah, not teal

34. Fluff pieces? : BOAS

38. Ship with a prophetic prow : ARGO - Jason, and his Argonauts; strange this was not clued as the new movie.  I have not seen it - I saw Skyfall, tho.

39. Mythical bowman : EROS

40. Motrin competitor : ALEVE - OTC medications

41. Oklahoma tribe : OTO - sometimes spelled OTOE

42. Barrel of laughs : RIOT

43. Flavor, in a way : SEASON

44. Highly rated court figure : JUDGE JUDY - TV ratings, that is

46. Claptrap : HOKUM - "that's a lot of ___~!"

49. Clay + straw + water + sunshine : ADOBE - excellent clue; I gave this one some extra thought, and then "A-HA~!" it was there - more here

50. Recipe meas. : TeaSPoon; see 1D.

53. Type of mining used for near-the-surface minerals : OPEN PIT

55. Sample tray sign : TAKE ONE

57. Ecstasy : RAPTURE - not ELATION

58. Walk all over : TREAD ON

59. What con men may assume : ALIASES

60. "Act I: Daily Life" play : OUR TOWN

DOWN:
 
1. 50-Across, e.g. : ABBReviation

2. Infrequent : RARE

3. Initial warning to an intruder? : MYOB - "Mind Your Own Business~!"

4. Longtime Cub Santo : RON - to you, C.C.

5. Contestant's payment : ENTRY FEE

6. Reaction to a tickle, maybe : SNEEZE - not GIGGLE, not TEE-HEE

7. Inventor hired by Westinghouse : TESLA

8. Golfer's knickers : PLUS FOURS - I just learned that the name comes from being "+4 inches below the knee", like this

9. Operated : RAN

10. Canal malady : OTITIS - the canal of the EAR, that is

11. To date : SO FAR

12. "Never gonna happen!" : "AS IF~!" - I was looking for a Wayne's World clip

13. "Johnny Mnemonic" actor : ICE-T

14. Heels : CADS

21. Like an old saw : OFT QUOTED - of course, I was thinking about DULLED, RUSTED, etc.

23. Maker of the Vortex electric pencil sharpener : X-ACTO - hobbyists' knives company

24. Off : AWAY

25. Evergreen bean : CACAO

27. Movie chameleon voiced by Johnny Depp : RANGO

29. Clog bottoms : SOLES

30. Volley : SALVO

31. Ruhr valley city : ESSEN - crossword staple; look for it on the Right/East side with its friendly "E's" and "S's"

33. Repeals : ABROGATES - nice word; I'm gonna try and use it today

34. Anchor, as a nautical rope : BELAY

36. Senate Majority Leader after Frist : REID

37. Tourist guidebook publisher : BAEDEKER - and now online~!

42. Clamor : RUMPUS - not RUCKUS

43. Legacy producer : SUBARU - nice misdirection

44. Coup group : JUNTA

45. Game with five-letter words : JOTTO - We've seen this link before; addicting

46. Traditional dance : HORA

47. Australian export : OPAL - getting to be a crossword staple

48. Foreign Legion cap : KEPI - this thingy

50. Clamor : TO-DO

51. Bamboozle : SNOW

52. School in the Quaker Consortium : PENN

54. Haranguer's fuel : IRE

56. Absorb, as costs : EAT

Splynter

Note from C.C.:

You've got to watch this cute link TTP brought to the blog yesterday.

Friday, November 23, 2012, Marti Duguay-Carpenter

THEME: Appendix, as in Append IX, adding IX which is the Roman Numeral for nine which has absolutely nothing to do with the theme. .

Another cute and tricky (as in TR-  IX are for kids) theme from our Friday femme fatale, as we have a classic 4 theme puzzle with the "ix" added to the first word of a common  phrase to create a completely different and rib tickling new phrase. Simple but clever, and the rest of the fill is very clean and does not include many 3 letter answers and has a bunch of middle range words like BOSSIER,  EYE EXAM,  FARADAY, HANG ON TO,  PETER OUT, BOX OFFICE and  LOBBYISTS. Well let us see if all the tryptophan has dulled our senses or the day off from TOIL (yes I said TOIL!)  given us the strength to have no leftovers in our solving this little gem.

17A. Impish chutzpah? : PIXIE CRUST (10). Pie crust changes into a rather self-contradictory phrase suggesting both cute and tough.

24A. Royal handyman? : FIXIT FOR A KING (13). My  favorite visual, but whether the clue is fit for a King I am unsure.

46A. Betty Crocker's empire? : MIXING DYNASTY (13). The Ming Dynasty is replaced by the Queen of cake mixes.

56A. Watergate, notably? : NIXON ISSUE (10). Politics are non-issues here, but Nixon and Watergate will never go away.

Across:

1. Stroll : AMBLE. Exactly the speed I want to travel after a day of stuffing my face. I did not pour this in and the perps made it worse.

6. To-do : FLAP.

10. Bottle in a crib? : BABA. My son Aaron never used a pacifier, but loved his baba, cool to see this today while I am at his house.

14. Cry near the sty : SOOEY.  Ever called a hog? Can also be spelled SOOIE (1:48).

15. Aruba, for one : ISLE. One of the ABC isles.

16. Muslim prayer leader : IMAM.

19. Enemy of a ratón : GATO. A Spanish Cat does not like rats, not referencing people from Boca. Right Dennis?

20. __-pitch : SLO. This clue was a real softball, and mirrors the last clue, 59D. Cat lead-in : SNO.

21. Capital of Spain : ESS. If you all were trying to fit Madrid in there, S is the only capital letter in the word.

22. Pennsylvania site of the Crayola Factory : EASTON. Also birthplace of boxer Larry Holmes.

28. 90's trade pact : NAFTA. The North American Free Trade Agreement.

30. Agreeable : SAVORY. Here is where I hit a speed bump; I know it means pleasant or agreeable in the context of food, but without the reference this took the perps, as did.

31. Geometry staple : AXIOM. The 5 which are the basis of EUCLIDEAN GEOMETRY.I will defer to our math whiz Fermatprime, but when I saw the clue I just could not see marti's angle.

32. Sign on for another hitch : RE-UP. "to re-enlist," 1906, U.S. armed forces slang, from re- "back, again" + up "enlist." Online Etymology Dictionary.

33. Airport near Forest Hills, N.Y. : LGA. Laguardia, named for Mayor Fiorello Laguardia, and an unforgettable setting where you glide down over the water until the landing strip appears with the skyscrapers in the distance.

36. ___ de gallo: Mexican salsa : PICO. Do you all love Cilantro?

37. Core : HEART. Notice how our divine miss m keeps working these clues in.

39. Trashcan scavenger : COON. Aside from pejorative meanings, this is a legitimate stand alone word for raccoon so no real nit to pick here. Though I certainly have had to outsmart raccoon back in the day of small garbage cans off of which they easily got the top.

40. Legal ending : ESE. We are adjourned, just did not fit. Legalese.

41. Wedding ring, e.g. : BAND. This little one baffled me for a bit, maybe this is why I am so long divorced.

42. Watson of the PGA : BUBBA. 2012 Masters champion and the third PGA Tour winning golfer from little Milton Florida high school,  as well as being a SINGER (2:17). He is in the overalls.

43. Fads : MANIAS. Some might say Bubba is a maniac.

45. Electron circuit : ORBIT. We could go round and round about this clue.

50. Its components are often bought separately : STEREO.

51. Come-___:teasers : ONS.  Like these ADS (9:30)?

52. "Gross!" : ICK.

55. Zola title heroine : NANA.

60. Posting place : BLOG. A shout out to all of us.

61. Dressage pace : TROT. The pace of showing horses.

62. Submission : ENTRY.

63. Edible dessert container : CONE. Really nice simple, but evocative clue. Sugar or waffle?

64. Spanish medals or metals : OROS. Spanish lesson, meaning Gold.

65. Valentine's Day gift : ROSES. Another shout out to our Valentine baby. I wonder why there are no Js in her puzzles?

Down:

1. Threats to Indiana Jones : ASPS.  You all recall SNAKES on the PLANE (0:18)?

2. Work hard : MOIL. Of course i fell into her damn TOIL trap, and felt cut off from ever solving the NW. When the M in amble became mandatory, my heritage brought MOYLE to mind, and my energy waned, You could say it was about to 9D. Fizzle : PETER OUT. Which can be very painful with metal zippers.

3. Where a smash is welcome : BOX OFFICE. Mario and Luigi did not fit. Fun fill.

4. Island chain? : LEI. This is how to clue a three letter word and still make it fun.

5. Test for pupils? : EYE EXAM. More clue/fill magic.

6. Baby book entries : FIRSTS. How fitting with my little Charlotte now among us.

7. Sch. with a pelican on its official seal : LSU. Hey Hahtoolah, it is Louisiana State University.

8. Singer Green et al. : ALS.  Like this SONG (3:16).

10. Idaho State's conference : BIG SKY. Home of football powers Eastern Washington and Montana State.

11. Valuable violin : AMATI. Amo Amas, Amati, I love a good violin! Sadly, STRAD was my first thought.

12. A racer may pass it : BATON. Okay, here my first thought was GAS, then I went to Kidney Stone. It took awhile to get to a team race.

13. Encircled by : AMONG.

18. CBS series with regional spinoffs : CSI. Crime Scene Investigation. fading and soon to be gone. Ted Danson and Elizabeth Shue just pose too much, and she is always smiling inappropriately. She is a pretty woman but there are dead bodies. They even brought back the ghost of Warrick Brown in an attempt to bring back audience.

23. 50-and-up group : AARP.  American Association of Retired Persons.

25. "Am ___ late?" : I TOO. Like our late night poster always worry.

26. Electromagnetic induction discoverer FARADAY. This MAN.

27. "Your turn to talk" : OVER. Cute CB Radio talk clue. Over.

28. It's hidden by a ponytail : NAPE. Tattoo would not fit.

29. Turning point : AXIS. We had ALLIED-AXIS, now we have another meaning.

33. Influential Washington group : LOBBYISTS. Nice $10.00 word here.

34. Desert that borders the Altai Mountains : GOBI. You want to LEARN?.

35. Future doc's subj. : ANATomy.  This brings to mind one of my favorite obscure terms, METONOMY. which my friend uses daily when he says he is going to the track.

37. Keep : HANG ON TO. Are we going back to hoarders from last week?

38. Lover of Geraint : ENID. One of only two books which I began and did not finish, Tennyson's Idylls of the King. 

39. Short and not so sweet : CURT. I could not think of any short and acerbic people, though Kurt Vonnegut was close, but he was a K.

41. Scourge : BANE. I love this word.

42. More domineering : BOSSIER. Does this fill look like a French word that got lost and ended up in Ohio?

43. Vegas hotel, with "the" : MIRAGE. Steve Wynn's huge palace which changed the strip.

44. Snobs : SNOOTS. I never heard this used as a noun, only like, "The maitre'd was Snooty because I was wearing sneakers," Both come from the same stem word SNOUT (NOSE) from holding the nose up in the air.

46. "Hardball" network : MSNBC. How many remembered where the MS came from? Microsoft and the National Broadcasting Company.

47. 1895-'96 ___-Ethiopian War : ITALO. The First of two such wars. This is the HISTORY. It really looks like marti is trying to teach us stuff this week, while we are all too full of Turkey. (Okay Barry G.were going to say I actually am too full of....)

48. It might be in the spotlight : XENON. One of the inert gases used to make "neon" signs and lights.

49. Curry of "Today" : ANN. More brouhaha about her firing and the continued decline of Today versus GMA, but come on, Kathie Lee and Yoda?

53. "Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me" band, with "The" : CURE. Not familiar with album, here is the SONG..(6:20)

54. Ring jinglers : KEYS. A little early Christmas music, jingle keys, jingle keys?

57. Damaged, as mdse. : IRRegular.

58. Pencil game loser : XOO. Tic Tac Tomorrow we will have more leftovers, and I love my baby. If any of you actually come and solve, thank you and I hope you had a great holiday. See you all next time.

Lemonade