Title: What hotel are you staying at? The one where you get two rooms for the price of one!
Wow, John has made my first attempt to blog a puzzle since I have been ill a challenge. On the one hand it seems simple with a nice progression from ECONOMY-STANDARD-PREMIUM-LUXURY but there is no reveal. And then we have the four words inserted by JL. They give us Economy/Rat Pack; Standard/Hot Time; Premium/Swamp Gas and Luxury/Eye Liner. Two themes for the price of one. I do not recall ever seeing a puzzle with this duality. All with John's wonderful wit mixed in both the theme and the cluing/fill.
19A. Doppelgänger cast for a low-budget remake of "Ocean's 11"? : ECONOMY RAT PACK (14). The original from 1960 was a vehicle for the Sinatra PACK. The real remakes have not been economy. Which of the movies did you like best?
23A. Usual night in the old town? : STANDARD HOT TIME. (15). The first of two grid-spanners.
42A. Quality marsh output? : PREMIUM SWAMP GAS (15). The silliest of the theme fill.
48A. Gold dust lid cover? : LUXURY EYE LINER (14). Made me think of Elizabeth Talyor as Cleopatra.
In addition to the 58 letters dedicated to the theme, JL includes SODA POP, BUOYANT, TEEN IDOL, LEMMINGS, ROADSIDES and ART DEALER as sparkly fill. I had a great time.
Across:
1. "L'Arlésienne" composer : BIZET. Wow, not a gimme start but lots of challenging letters. LINK.
6. Nutrients in nuts : FATS.
10. Silent signal : NOD.
13. Surface : ARISE. An unexpected definition.
14. Facetious agreement : AH SO.
15. Litter pickup spot? : NAPE. Not only humans do this.
16. Parson's home : MANSE. I learned this word reading British mysteries and watching them on PBS like THIS.
17. Some shoulders : ROADSIDES. Lovely misdirection.
21. Speck in la mer : ILE. French,
22. Sweet climber : PEA. Very important in science RESEARCH. Next to....
32. Entomological case study? : COCOON. JL loves his moths and their stages of life.He was kind enough to provide this picture from his personal stash.
33. Repeated number of curls, say : REPititions. Bicep curls.
34. Bust gp. : DEA. Drug Enforcement Administration. President Nixon consolidated the anti-drug efforts. This is not the group in charge of inspecting bras.
35. Whatever : AT ALL. Used to be one of my favorite catch phrases. Now it is DK/DC.
36. Fanny pack spot : HIP. I see them more in front or back, never on me. Cute positioning with
28D. In like an old cat? : HEP. Just ask Maynard G. Krebs.
37. Backing strips : LATHS. Not to confused with LATHE. Lath 1. a thin flat strip of wood, especially one of a series forming a foundation for the plaster of a wall or the tiles of a roof, or made into a trellis or fence.
39. Liszt's "__ Préludes" : LES. Pretty easy French to fill. This COMPOSER was very popular.
40. Fish house freebie : BIB. Usually with a drawing of a lobster.
41. Sympathize : RELATE.
46. Mayo is in it : ANO. Spanish trick Mayo = May- ANO = Year
47. Fan noise : HUM.
56. Theo van Gogh, notably : ART DEALER. A fun STORY.
57. Orange variety : NAVEL. Seedless and very haughty.
59. Couth he is not : OGRE.
60. Khartoum's waters : NILE.
61. Birds do it between thermals : GLIDE. JL also watches and films birds.
62. Place to take a dip : SEA. And the clecho, 64A. Place to take a dip? : SALSA.
63. Hits up (for) : TAPS. In beer halls you tap your friend next to the taps.
Down:
1. "Whap!" : BAM. Comic book talk.
2. "Dies __" : IRAE.
3. #30 on a table : ZINC. I keep forgetting to not put my glass on the periodic table.
4. Canadian pump name : ESSO. Esso - Exxon.
5. "People" person, perhaps : TEEN IDOL.
6. Cain was one : FARMER. Sad, as he must have been driven mad by the methane gases.
7. Cry to a mate : AHOY.
8. Ruler that doesn't work anymore : TSAR. They all retired?
9. Gender-specific beverage? : SODA POP. Cute, you can have soda pop or white wine mom.
10. Zilch : NADA.
11. Group with many barrels : OPEC.
12. Office staple : DESK. I found this tricky, looking for an office implement..
15. Bite playfully : NIP AT. Puppies! Friends?
18. Editorial override : STET.
20. Buck heroine : O-LAN. A well decorated book about the mysterious East. O-Lan is a fictional character in Pearl S. Buck's 1931 novel The Good Earth. She is a slave of the House of Hwang who gains her freedom when she marries the novel's protagonist, Wang Lung. They start a family in their small country town, and endure grueling times, including droughts, floods, and war. Wiki, Sorry about the broken link.
23. It may be under a rug : SCALP. Rug here being a toupee- nice.
24. Bag carrier : TOTER. Yes it is! 29D. Travel bag attachment : ID TAG. More travel.
25. "__ in point" : A CASE.
26. Cambodia's Lon __ : NOL. LON NOL, a handy palindrome.
27. Bits : DRIBS. Or drabs?
30. Maestro Zubin : MEHTA. John is a most prolific pianist, explaining all the music this week. You can learn more about John going to his blog, LINK.
31. Lightens up : EASES.
36. Gender-specific pronoun : HIM. All perps.
37. Non-suicidal migrants, contrary to myth : LEMMINGS. The MYTH?
38. Heidi got high on one : ALP. My friend Heidi lived near the Devil's Millhopper no mountains..
40. Cheerful : BUOYANT. Maybe if you are a sponge....
41. Julia of film : RAUL. He died much too young. LINK.
43. "All in the Family" spin-off : MAUDE. Bea Arthur as a feminist.
44. About : IN RE.
45. Waldo forerunner? : WHERE'S? I think he is lost forever. Just words that come before Waldo.
48. Cambodia neighbor : LAOS. Both near Thailand.
49. Itch : URGE.
50. Bonus, in ads : XTRA.
51. Lamb's alias : ELIA. And a JL clecho 58D. Lamb's place : LEA. Not the writer but the baby that Mary had.
52. Sharp bark : YELP. Doggies.
53. Simba's love : NALA.
54. Far from harmless : EVIL.
55. Cabs, say : REDS. Not yellow taxis, but Cabernet wines.
Well it was fun to blog but still not 100%. 7 hospitals and 10 doctors so far this year. Glad to be back and to have a JL special was great. Lemonade out. Thank you John.
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May 12, 2017
May 11, 2017
Thursday May 11 2017 Mark McClain
Theme: Echo-o-o-o A word echoed in each theme clue
17A. Workshop sticker : EPOXY RESIN. This stuff. The red bits (scientific term!) are the hardener.
27A. Kitchen sticker : FRIDGE MAGNET. Here's one of mine from a winery near Santa Maria (no surprise there!)
43A. Mailroom sticker : POSTAGE STAMP. Here is the world's most valuable stamp, the British Guyana 1¢ Magenta. It sold at auction in 2014 for $9.5m. That's some return on your one-cent investment back in 1856.
58A. Desk-bottom sticker : CHEWING GUM. Yuck.
Nice theme-in-the-clue pangrammatic puzzle from Mark. There's a lot of fresh fill too, much more than a usual Thursday. I enjoyed the variety in the four "stickies". Let's see what else we've got.
Across:
1. Eye-related prefix : OPTI
5. Acht minus sechs : ZWEI. If you want to clearly differentiate between "two" and "three" (drei) in German, you use "zwo" instead. I've heard the guy counting down a skier at the start of the Hannenkahm downhill in Kitzbühel incanting "drei-zwo-ein".
9. Con : SCAM
13. Rock guitarist Eddy : DUANE
15. Make : EARN
16. Dracula costume item : CAPE
19. Major in astronomy? : URSA. Nice clue.
20. 64-Across's realm : RUSSIA. Filled in easily enough once I'd got to the end of the "Across" clues and found TSAR.
21. Pacified : QUELLED
23. CBS maritime drama : NCIS. Never seen it, but I know it stands for "Naval Criminal Investigative Service". Was Tom Cruise an NCIS agent in "A Few Good Men?"
26. Lay bare : EXPOSE
32. Personal assistant : AIDE
33. "Zounds!" : EGADS! Yikes!
34. __ Mahal : TAJ
37. Had already learned : KNEW
38. City north of Memphis : CAIRO. 20 miles away. Here's a few old rocks in Memphis - actually, they're the remains of columns from a temple to Rameses.
39. Pacific island where much of "Lost" was filmed : OAHU. Where you can chow down on pupus.
40. Scrape (out) : EKE
41. "Wheel of Fortune" name : VANNA. Speaking of which, the proffered answer of "On The Spot Dice Spin" didn't win this one. Indiana U. fail.
42. Half-note feature : STEM
46. Kicks out : EXPELS
49. Water source : WELL
50. I-15 city between Los Angeles and Las Vegas : BARSTOW. Name-checked on the song "Route 66."
52. Service interruption : OUTAGE
57. Stage direction : EXIT. Stage Left.
61. Icy coating : RIME. "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is not referring to frost on his beard.
62. Numbers game : KENO
63. Knife hawked on infomercials : GINSU. I think I've seen the commercials - isn't this the knife that cuts through a can and then cuts tomatoes? I hate to see knife abuse of this sort!
64. Old despot : TSAR
65. Try to find : SEEK
66. Is appropriate : FITS
Down:
1. River through Frankfurt : ODER
2. __ platter : PUPU. Food! A Hawai'ian staple. Make sure there's a couple of Spam musubi on there for me.
3. City near Ghost Ranch, a favorite Georgia O'Keeffe retreat : TAOS.
4. "Devil Inside" band : INXS. My first wife worked for their record company. They were pronounced "Ink-sis" by the folks at the label, so as not to been seen taking the talent too seriously.
5. Crazy consonant? : ZEE. And with "Z" this puzzle becomes a pangram, all letters of the alphabet appear today.
6. Used to be : WAS
7. La Salle of "Under the Dome" : ERIQ. I know him from "House."
8. Subtle slur : INNUENDO.
9. Make busts : SCULPT. Not a Victoria's Secret Uplift Semi Demi bra?
10. Producer Ponti : CARLO. Thank you, crosses.
11. Spots for religious statues : APSES
12. Civil War general : MEADE. Famous for Gettysburg and building lighthouses. He was born in Cadiz, Spain, which may or may not explain the lighthouse fascination.
14. Getting a good look at : EYING
18. 10K, say : RACE. Fun Run for some, Agony Run for others, Race for the select few.
22. They may not be on speaking terms : EXES. Especially if they live in Texas.
24. Clarifying words : I MEANT ...
25. City "it took me four days to hitchhike from," in Paul Simon's "America" : SAGINAW. I heard this five minutes ago - the song is currently being used in a VW car commercial.
27. Hoops move : FAKE
28. Zamboni domain : RINK. The Zamboni was invented, and is still manufactured right here in Southern California, in Paramount.
29. __ fixe : IDÉE. An obsession. I didn't notice this during the puzzle, crosses filled it in for me.
30. Meadow drops : DEW
31. Parking place : GARAGE
34. "Cheerio!" : TA-TA! I just finished watching all six seasons of "Downton Abbey" after a few years' delay. Jolly good! I cried in every episode. I cry all time in movies; I even cried in the first "Toy Story." I went to see "The Cider House Rules" at the AMC Theater in Burbank when it was first released wearing a light gray t-shirt. When I came out, the front was dark gray due to my tearful sobbing.
35. "Shh!" relative : AHEM
36. Head start : JUMP
38. Full-length clerical garments : CASSOCKS. I wore one of these in my days as an altar boy. See below for parental dragging-by-the-ear reference.
39. East of Essen : OST. A couple or three Germanic references today. I like the play on "East of Eden" in the clue.
41. Electric Chevy : VOLT
43. Annoy : PESTER
44. Childlike race in "The Time Machine" : ELOI
45. Thrown : SLUNG
46. Critic Roger : EBERT. One of the thumbs up. Or down.
47. Line on which y = 0 : X-AXIS.
48. Ballerina descriptor : PRIMA. Top banana at the barre.
51. "This is fun!" : WHEE!
53. "What a brutal week!" : TGIF! Thank Go[odness] it's Friday!
54. Lambs, in Latin : AGNI. I think this one is a tad obscure. I knew it because of my Catholic parents dragging me to church by the ear and therefore knowing the "Agnus Dei", married with the fact I was taught Latin at school, so I could figure out the plural. Tough one.
55. A strong one may invert an umbrella : GUST. Tried GALE, was wrong.
56. Big birds : EMUS
59. Hydrocarbon suffix : -ENE
60. Asian pan : WOK. Don't get a non-stick one - you want to be able to push food up the sides and have it stay there rather than sliding back to the bottom like Sysyphus' boulder.
And with that, my work here is done. Here's the grid!
Steve
17A. Workshop sticker : EPOXY RESIN. This stuff. The red bits (scientific term!) are the hardener.
27A. Kitchen sticker : FRIDGE MAGNET. Here's one of mine from a winery near Santa Maria (no surprise there!)
43A. Mailroom sticker : POSTAGE STAMP. Here is the world's most valuable stamp, the British Guyana 1¢ Magenta. It sold at auction in 2014 for $9.5m. That's some return on your one-cent investment back in 1856.
58A. Desk-bottom sticker : CHEWING GUM. Yuck.
Nice theme-in-the-clue pangrammatic puzzle from Mark. There's a lot of fresh fill too, much more than a usual Thursday. I enjoyed the variety in the four "stickies". Let's see what else we've got.
Across:
1. Eye-related prefix : OPTI
5. Acht minus sechs : ZWEI. If you want to clearly differentiate between "two" and "three" (drei) in German, you use "zwo" instead. I've heard the guy counting down a skier at the start of the Hannenkahm downhill in Kitzbühel incanting "drei-zwo-ein".
9. Con : SCAM
13. Rock guitarist Eddy : DUANE
15. Make : EARN
16. Dracula costume item : CAPE
19. Major in astronomy? : URSA. Nice clue.
20. 64-Across's realm : RUSSIA. Filled in easily enough once I'd got to the end of the "Across" clues and found TSAR.
21. Pacified : QUELLED
23. CBS maritime drama : NCIS. Never seen it, but I know it stands for "Naval Criminal Investigative Service". Was Tom Cruise an NCIS agent in "A Few Good Men?"
26. Lay bare : EXPOSE
32. Personal assistant : AIDE
33. "Zounds!" : EGADS! Yikes!
34. __ Mahal : TAJ
37. Had already learned : KNEW
38. City north of Memphis : CAIRO. 20 miles away. Here's a few old rocks in Memphis - actually, they're the remains of columns from a temple to Rameses.
39. Pacific island where much of "Lost" was filmed : OAHU. Where you can chow down on pupus.
40. Scrape (out) : EKE
41. "Wheel of Fortune" name : VANNA. Speaking of which, the proffered answer of "On The Spot Dice Spin" didn't win this one. Indiana U. fail.
42. Half-note feature : STEM
46. Kicks out : EXPELS
49. Water source : WELL
50. I-15 city between Los Angeles and Las Vegas : BARSTOW. Name-checked on the song "Route 66."
52. Service interruption : OUTAGE
57. Stage direction : EXIT. Stage Left.
61. Icy coating : RIME. "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is not referring to frost on his beard.
62. Numbers game : KENO
63. Knife hawked on infomercials : GINSU. I think I've seen the commercials - isn't this the knife that cuts through a can and then cuts tomatoes? I hate to see knife abuse of this sort!
64. Old despot : TSAR
65. Try to find : SEEK
66. Is appropriate : FITS
Down:
1. River through Frankfurt : ODER
2. __ platter : PUPU. Food! A Hawai'ian staple. Make sure there's a couple of Spam musubi on there for me.
3. City near Ghost Ranch, a favorite Georgia O'Keeffe retreat : TAOS.
4. "Devil Inside" band : INXS. My first wife worked for their record company. They were pronounced "Ink-sis" by the folks at the label, so as not to been seen taking the talent too seriously.
5. Crazy consonant? : ZEE. And with "Z" this puzzle becomes a pangram, all letters of the alphabet appear today.
6. Used to be : WAS
7. La Salle of "Under the Dome" : ERIQ. I know him from "House."
8. Subtle slur : INNUENDO.
9. Make busts : SCULPT. Not a Victoria's Secret Uplift Semi Demi bra?
10. Producer Ponti : CARLO. Thank you, crosses.
11. Spots for religious statues : APSES
12. Civil War general : MEADE. Famous for Gettysburg and building lighthouses. He was born in Cadiz, Spain, which may or may not explain the lighthouse fascination.
14. Getting a good look at : EYING
18. 10K, say : RACE. Fun Run for some, Agony Run for others, Race for the select few.
22. They may not be on speaking terms : EXES. Especially if they live in Texas.
24. Clarifying words : I MEANT ...
25. City "it took me four days to hitchhike from," in Paul Simon's "America" : SAGINAW. I heard this five minutes ago - the song is currently being used in a VW car commercial.
27. Hoops move : FAKE
28. Zamboni domain : RINK. The Zamboni was invented, and is still manufactured right here in Southern California, in Paramount.
29. __ fixe : IDÉE. An obsession. I didn't notice this during the puzzle, crosses filled it in for me.
30. Meadow drops : DEW
31. Parking place : GARAGE
34. "Cheerio!" : TA-TA! I just finished watching all six seasons of "Downton Abbey" after a few years' delay. Jolly good! I cried in every episode. I cry all time in movies; I even cried in the first "Toy Story." I went to see "The Cider House Rules" at the AMC Theater in Burbank when it was first released wearing a light gray t-shirt. When I came out, the front was dark gray due to my tearful sobbing.
35. "Shh!" relative : AHEM
36. Head start : JUMP
38. Full-length clerical garments : CASSOCKS. I wore one of these in my days as an altar boy. See below for parental dragging-by-the-ear reference.
39. East of Essen : OST. A couple or three Germanic references today. I like the play on "East of Eden" in the clue.
41. Electric Chevy : VOLT
43. Annoy : PESTER
44. Childlike race in "The Time Machine" : ELOI
45. Thrown : SLUNG
46. Critic Roger : EBERT. One of the thumbs up. Or down.
47. Line on which y = 0 : X-AXIS.
48. Ballerina descriptor : PRIMA. Top banana at the barre.
51. "This is fun!" : WHEE!
53. "What a brutal week!" : TGIF! Thank Go[odness] it's Friday!
54. Lambs, in Latin : AGNI. I think this one is a tad obscure. I knew it because of my Catholic parents dragging me to church by the ear and therefore knowing the "Agnus Dei", married with the fact I was taught Latin at school, so I could figure out the plural. Tough one.
55. A strong one may invert an umbrella : GUST. Tried GALE, was wrong.
56. Big birds : EMUS
59. Hydrocarbon suffix : -ENE
60. Asian pan : WOK. Don't get a non-stick one - you want to be able to push food up the sides and have it stay there rather than sliding back to the bottom like Sysyphus' boulder.
And with that, my work here is done. Here's the grid!
Steve
May 10, 2017
Wednesday, May 10, 2017, Agnes Davidson and C.C. Burnikel
TITLE: MUSH!
Our own Irish Miss and C.C. have doggedly produced a lovely Wednesday puzzle that provided a fun exercise for me while their theme escaped my blood hound instincts. There was also just enough challenge to make my solving experience enjoyable.
What these ladies did was to supply five two-word theme answers wherein both words can serve as a "LEAD" for the word DOG. This is all tied up in their theme reveal:
37. Iditarod front-runners ... or what both parts of the answers to starred clues can do? : LEAD DOGS - As you can see by the picture here, being the LEAD DOG does have its advantages!
The previous puzzle I blogged was last Wednesday's where the phrase OUT OF could precede each word in a two word phrase to give two new phrases and so there was some similarity.
Now let's take a look at the theme fills, some of which are canine related and some not so much:
18. *Suffering harsh criticism : UNDER ATTACK which yields
55. *Highway patrol group : STATE POLICE and we also get
3. *Deep trouble : HOT WATER
6. *Member of a 1960s Chinese paramilitary group : RED GUARD
36. *Hard-to-control blaze : WILD FIRE where Agnes and C.C. also give us
Let's see what else is in their, anything but shaggy, dog story:
Across
1. __ Wednesday : ASH - The day after Mardi (Tuesday) Gras (Fat)
4. Rock of comedy : CHRIS
9. Miata automaker : MAZDA - The star of the movie Husker Gary's Midlife Crisis
14. 6-Down leader : MAO
15. Moocher : LEECH
16. Cannes concepts : IDEES - En France, les bonnes IDEES peuvent impliquer des vin (In France, good ideas can involve wine)
17. CPR pro : EMT
20. Attach, as a patch : SEW ON
22. All skin and bones : GAUNT
23. See 39-Down : LEE 39. With 23-Across, "Life of Pi" Oscar winner : ANG - ANG LEE - Lots of CGI required
24. Put up, as wallpaper : HANG
25. Fleecy boot brand : UGGS - Tom Brady was a spokesperson at one time
26. Word on a sample check : VOID
27. Sneaky guy? : PETE
28. Charlotte of "The Facts of Life" : RAE
29. Lawman Earp : WYATT
31. Portable gifts for book lovers : E READERS - Do you like turning the pages like I do?
33. Very long spell : EON
34. Part of mph : PER - Do you really want to get your 'vette going this fast?
35. Exchange rate abbr. : USD - Your Canadian loonie is worth about .73 USD
36. Like some smiles : WRY
37. NYC airport code : LGA
40. Cat, often : PET - We have one of those
41. Clam : SIMOLEON - Ah, the euphemisms abound
43. "Sailing to Byzantium" poet : YEATS - I did better understanding calculus and relativity
45. Where LeBron plays home games, on scoreboards : CLE - Has any athletes ever meant as much to one city as LeBron has to CLEveland?
46. Yin partner : YANG
47. Standard : NORM
48. Passed down, as folk mus. : TRAD - I didn't understand TRAD until I saw mus. Hence TRADtional music
50. Antique shoppe adjective : OLDE
51. Wilder's "__ Town" : OUR
52. "Mrs. Dalloway" novelist : WOOLF - I ain't afraid of her
53. Bicycle part : PEDAL - Once you attach your foot to the PEDAL there could be issues
58. Have debts : OWE
59. Ancient Aegean region : IONIA
60. Bugs of crime : MORAN - George "Bugs" MORAN was on his way to the garage on Valentine's Day 1929. Good thing he was late.
61. Came down with : GOT
62. Chopper blade : ROTOR - One horizontal and one vertical
63. Gushes : SPEWS
64. Caution to drivers : SLO
Down - Picture seemed appropriate here with the clue direction and the theme...
1. Iowa college town : AMES
2. "One for me, too" : SAME HERE
4. Held tightly (to) : CLUNG
5. Coop resident : HEN
7. Glacial periods : ICE AGES
8. Show of indifference : SHRUG
9. Baker's accessory : MITT
10. Electronic security corp. : ADT - The telephone ran them out of their original business
11. Fanatic : ZEALOT
12. Duplicity : DECEIT
13. Posed a question : ASKED
19. Mom's demand for an explanation : ANSWER ME - Been there, heard that!
21. Top draft status : ONE-A - This IV status card was "found" on him on 11/22/63 using an alias
26. Moving vehicle : VAN
27. __ rally : PEP
28. Road trip convenience : REST STOP
30. Go up and down : YOYO - A lot of this motion is NOT up and down
32. Tune for two : DUET
38. Left base illegally : GONE AWOL
40. Kitchen spray : PAM
41. Edible mollusk : SCALLOP
42. Country singer Lovett : LYLE - Yeah, I know who he was married to for two years and I don't know why either
43. "Right back atcha" : YOU TOO
44. Off the mark : ERRANT - William Tell pulled two arrows and told Gov. Gessler that the second arrow would have been for Gessler if the first shot was ERRANT and had killed his son and then...
47. Respectful refusal : NO SIR
49. Destinations in Clue : ROOMS - The original ROOMS
50. Pops the cork from : OPENS
52. Be dressed in : WEAR
54. Jared of "Suicide Squad" : LETO
56. Juan's uncle : TIO - An Almost Perfect Uncle
57. Bit of cornfield cacophony : CAW
Our own Irish Miss and C.C. have doggedly produced a lovely Wednesday puzzle that provided a fun exercise for me while their theme escaped my blood hound instincts. There was also just enough challenge to make my solving experience enjoyable.
What these ladies did was to supply five two-word theme answers wherein both words can serve as a "LEAD" for the word DOG. This is all tied up in their theme reveal:
37. Iditarod front-runners ... or what both parts of the answers to starred clues can do? : LEAD DOGS - As you can see by the picture here, being the LEAD DOG does have its advantages!
The previous puzzle I blogged was last Wednesday's where the phrase OUT OF could precede each word in a two word phrase to give two new phrases and so there was some similarity.
Now let's take a look at the theme fills, some of which are canine related and some not so much:
18. *Suffering harsh criticism : UNDER ATTACK which yields
6. *Member of a 1960s Chinese paramilitary group : RED GUARD
36. *Hard-to-control blaze : WILD FIRE where Agnes and C.C. also give us
Let's see what else is in their, anything but shaggy, dog story:
Across
1. __ Wednesday : ASH - The day after Mardi (Tuesday) Gras (Fat)
4. Rock of comedy : CHRIS
9. Miata automaker : MAZDA - The star of the movie Husker Gary's Midlife Crisis
14. 6-Down leader : MAO
15. Moocher : LEECH
16. Cannes concepts : IDEES - En France, les bonnes IDEES peuvent impliquer des vin (In France, good ideas can involve wine)
17. CPR pro : EMT
20. Attach, as a patch : SEW ON
22. All skin and bones : GAUNT
23. See 39-Down : LEE 39. With 23-Across, "Life of Pi" Oscar winner : ANG - ANG LEE - Lots of CGI required
24. Put up, as wallpaper : HANG
25. Fleecy boot brand : UGGS - Tom Brady was a spokesperson at one time
26. Word on a sample check : VOID
27. Sneaky guy? : PETE
28. Charlotte of "The Facts of Life" : RAE
29. Lawman Earp : WYATT
31. Portable gifts for book lovers : E READERS - Do you like turning the pages like I do?
33. Very long spell : EON
34. Part of mph : PER - Do you really want to get your 'vette going this fast?
35. Exchange rate abbr. : USD - Your Canadian loonie is worth about .73 USD
36. Like some smiles : WRY
37. NYC airport code : LGA
40. Cat, often : PET - We have one of those
LILY |
43. "Sailing to Byzantium" poet : YEATS - I did better understanding calculus and relativity
45. Where LeBron plays home games, on scoreboards : CLE - Has any athletes ever meant as much to one city as LeBron has to CLEveland?
46. Yin partner : YANG
47. Standard : NORM
48. Passed down, as folk mus. : TRAD - I didn't understand TRAD until I saw mus. Hence TRADtional music
50. Antique shoppe adjective : OLDE
51. Wilder's "__ Town" : OUR
52. "Mrs. Dalloway" novelist : WOOLF - I ain't afraid of her
53. Bicycle part : PEDAL - Once you attach your foot to the PEDAL there could be issues
58. Have debts : OWE
59. Ancient Aegean region : IONIA
60. Bugs of crime : MORAN - George "Bugs" MORAN was on his way to the garage on Valentine's Day 1929. Good thing he was late.
61. Came down with : GOT
62. Chopper blade : ROTOR - One horizontal and one vertical
63. Gushes : SPEWS
64. Caution to drivers : SLO
Down - Picture seemed appropriate here with the clue direction and the theme...
1. Iowa college town : AMES
2. "One for me, too" : SAME HERE
4. Held tightly (to) : CLUNG
5. Coop resident : HEN
7. Glacial periods : ICE AGES
8. Show of indifference : SHRUG
9. Baker's accessory : MITT
10. Electronic security corp. : ADT - The telephone ran them out of their original business
11. Fanatic : ZEALOT
12. Duplicity : DECEIT
13. Posed a question : ASKED
19. Mom's demand for an explanation : ANSWER ME - Been there, heard that!
21. Top draft status : ONE-A - This IV status card was "found" on him on 11/22/63 using an alias
26. Moving vehicle : VAN
27. __ rally : PEP
28. Road trip convenience : REST STOP
30. Go up and down : YOYO - A lot of this motion is NOT up and down
32. Tune for two : DUET
38. Left base illegally : GONE AWOL
40. Kitchen spray : PAM
41. Edible mollusk : SCALLOP
42. Country singer Lovett : LYLE - Yeah, I know who he was married to for two years and I don't know why either
43. "Right back atcha" : YOU TOO
44. Off the mark : ERRANT - William Tell pulled two arrows and told Gov. Gessler that the second arrow would have been for Gessler if the first shot was ERRANT and had killed his son and then...
47. Respectful refusal : NO SIR
49. Destinations in Clue : ROOMS - The original ROOMS
50. Pops the cork from : OPENS
52. Be dressed in : WEAR
54. Jared of "Suicide Squad" : LETO
56. Juan's uncle : TIO - An Almost Perfect Uncle
57. Bit of cornfield cacophony : CAW
Now, after my DOG and pony show, let's have some good comments
THE GRID
Labels:
Agnes Davidson,
C.C. Burnikel,
Husker Gary,
Wednesday
May 9, 2017
Tuesday May 9, 2017, Victor Barocas
Theme: On the Fence. Each theme answer hides a word (in circles) for a type of fencing sword.
17. Gadget used on carrots : VEGETABLE PEELER
28. Deepwater Horizon catastrophe : GULF OIL SPILL
44. Inhales : TAKES A BREATH
58. Activity one might see at a circus ... or in the Across answers containing circles? : SWORD SWALLOWING
Melissa here. Clever theme - must have taken a lot of effort to come up with phrases that contained these hidden words. Reminds me of the Cross Swords puzzle in the Wordplay documentary.
Across
1. TV drama whose title appeared on a California license plate : LA LAW
6. Beatrix Potter's "The __ of Peter Rabbit" : TALE
10. "Right away!" letters : ASAP
14. Yellow-and-white daisy : OXEYE
15. Goat with recurved horns : IBEX
16. Circle dance : HORA (spelling variation HORAH)
20. Inventor Whitney : ELI
21. No-win situation : TIE. Favorite clue.
22. Expression of woe : LAMENT
23. Seasonal sack toter : SANTA
26. Whisperer's target : EAR
27. Utter : SAY
32. Slanted type : ITALIC
32. Slanted type : ITALIC
33. Bronze component : TIN. Damien Hirst's Verity sculpture.
34. "Baseball Tonight" network : ESPN
38. Swamp reptile : GATOR
39. Lobbying gp. : PAC
40. __ New Guinea : PAPUA
41. Mets' home through 2008 : SHEA
42. Roguish : SLY
43. Arcade machine inserts : TOKENS
47. Key near Caps Lock : TAB
47. Key near Caps Lock : TAB
50. Spy org. : CIA
51. Time to chill, briefly : R AND R. Rest and relaxation.
52. Dozing : ASLEEP
54. CDX x V : MML
55. Extinct New Zealand bird : MOA
62. Sharp flavor : TANG
62. Sharp flavor : TANG
63. Rummikub piece : TILE
64. React to pain : WINCE
65. Wraps up : ENDS
66. Attacking the problem : ON IT
67. Soft drink size : LITER
Down
1. Adore : LOVE
Down
1. Adore : LOVE
2. Skater's leap : AXEL
3. Make laws : LEGISLATE
4. Shipboard affirmative : AYE
5. Like an unfun blanket? : WET
6. Related to the shinbone : TIBIAL
7. Up to the task : ABLE
8. Calm side : LEE
9. Clarify : EXPLAIN
10. "If I may interject ... " : AHEM
11. Shoe undersides : SOLES
12. Sports venue : ARENA
13. New Year's Eve staple : PARTY
18. High point of a home tour? : ATTIC
19. British nobleman : EARL
24. Bobbing on the waves : AFLOAT
25. Gritty film genre : NOIR. Literally 'black film or cinema,' developed during and after World War II, taking advantage of the post-war ambience of anxiety, pessimism, and suspicion. It was a style of black and white American films that first evolved in the 1940s, became prominent in the post-war era, and lasted in a classic "Golden Age" period until about 1960. Classic Film Noir title screens.
26. "Iliad" or "Aeneid" : EPIC
28. Jobs for a band : GIGS
29. The Beehive State : UTAH
30. Corset stiffeners : STAYS. Corset vs. Stay.
31. Released without authorization : LEAKED
35. Gum flavor : SPEARMINT
36. Many a fourth-down play : PUNT
37. Singer with Crosby and Stills : NASH
39. Courtroom entry : PLEA
40. Lewd literature : PORN
42. Reaches without reading the intervening pages : SKIPS TO
43. Pre-Little League game : T-BALL
45. Scored 100 on : ACED
46. Sleeve band : ARMLET
47. Sense of style : TASTE
48. Egypt's __ High Dam : ASWAN. New to me.
49. Fair-haired : BLOND
53. Work units : ERGS
54. The Niger River flows through it : MALI
56. "__ upon a midnight dreary ... " : ONCE
57. Stress, so they say : AGER
59. Come out on top : WIN
60. Nocturnal hunter : OWL
61. Nintendo console : WII
May 8, 2017
Monday, May 8, 2017 Steven L. Zisser
Theme: No Reveal Monday - As easy as one, two, three ... um, four.
17A. Mega-mall convenience: ONE-STOP SHOPPING
25A. Small-time bad guy: TWO-BIT GANGSTER
42A. Office attire with a vest: THREE-PIECE SUIT
56A. Barbershop quartet blend: FOUR-PART HARMONY
Argyle here. Great symmetry, tight consistency, and outstanding length; two fifteens and two fourteens. The theme has undoubtedly been done before but has it been done as well? Our constructor hasn't been very productive with his puzzles but has been published in various venues, including the LAT and the NYT.
Across:
1. Word with ball or driver: SCREW
6. Great Salt Lake state: UTAH
10. Sharp knocks: RAPS
14. 1971 Clapton classic: "LAYLA"
15. Pre-Columbian prefix with America: MESO. Mesoamerica, Wikipedia.
16. Director Kazan: ELIA. "On the Waterfront", "A Streetcar Named Desire", "East of Eden".
20. Horror director Craven: WES. "A Nightmare on Elm Street", "Scream", "The Last House on the Left".
21. Foot or inch, e.g.: UNIT
22. Founder of Taoism: LAO-TSE
23. Has office hours: IS IN
24. Bro and sis: SIBS
31. Pueblo-dwelling people: HOPI
32. "Whatever floats your __": BOAT
33. Igor's workplace: LAB. "... it's pronounced "eye-gore."
35. Drops the ball: ERRs
36. Shrimp relative: PRAWN
38. Adriatic resort: LIDO. If you prefer something closer to home.
39. Federal hush-hush org.: NSA. (No Such Agency)
40. Common-interest voting group: BLOC
41. State after North Dakota, alphabetically: OHIO
47. Online auction site: E-BAY
48. Part of many old German duchy names: SAXE
49. Belief systems: CREDOs
52. Razor brand: ATRA
53. Photo taker: CAM. Both photo and CAM are shortened words.
59. Other, in Oaxaca: OTRA
60. Moniker: NAME
61. Fountain drinks: MALTS
62. Broadway offering: SHOW
63. God with a hammer: THOR
64. Baker's dough raiser: YEAST
Down:
1. Like snail-mail, compared to email: SLOW
2. Mr. Peanut prop: CANE
3. Deli breads: RYEs
4. LLL: ELs. I've never seen this before.
5. '60s dance: WATUSI. "Wah-a, wah, wah-a Watusi
Oh, baby, it's the dance made-a for romance".
6. Calling balls and strikes, say: UMPING
7. Exam: TEST
8. Fireplace remains: ASH
9. Ruffian: HOOLIGAN
10. Share, as an internet meme: REPOST
11. Dismounted: ALIT
12. Kegler's targets: PINS
13. "Parsley, __, Rosemary and Thyme": SAGE
18. Getting the job done: ON IT
19. Blue Ribbon brewer: PABST
23. Sacred bird of ancient Egypt: IBIS
24. Winter bank makeup: SNOW
25. Partner of now: THEN
26. Bottom-of-the-barrel: WORST
27. Daytime TV celeb who founded Harpo Productions: OPRAH
28. Beaded calculators: ABACI. Hello, old friend.
29. Root or Yale: ELIHU. Elihu Root was Secretary of War under Theodore Roosevelt. Elihu Yale was the benefactor of Yale University.
30. Wheel spokes, essentially: RADII
34. Cowboy's footwear: BOOT
36. Agreeable: PLEASANT
37. Stringy: ROPY
38. Diet successfully: LOSE
40. Jazz genre: BEBOP
43. Make a new sketch of: REDRAW
44. Bible book named for a woman: ESTHER
45. Adored one, in Asti: CARA. "Cara Mia mine." Province of Asti.
46. Formerly in the military: EX-ARMY
49. Corp. fiscal execs: CFOs. (chief financial officer)
50. __ IRA: ROTH
51. Continental coin: EURO
52. Prefix with sphere: ATMO
53. Coca-__: COLA
54. "Carpenter" crawlers: ANTS
55. Computer adventure game: MYST
57. Cheerleader's word: RAH
58. Wisecracking West: MAE. "One and one is two; two and two is four; and "five will get you ten" if you work it right!"
Argyle
Note from C.C.:
Our TTP went morel hunting yesterday morning. He said below. He normally sautes the fresh morels in butter. D-Otto likes them deep-fried in beer batter. There are wooded area in our neighborhood, but no morels.
"Not a lot this morning, but enough. Found 10 but only 7 were
worth bringing back home. The other 3 were already dried out and
decomposing.
We had an overnight frost advisory, so I think most of them crawled back under the leaves.
4 of them were good sized at over 3" long and 1.5" thick. The largest was over 4 and 2 inches thick."
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