Saturday, Nov 26th, 2011 Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie

Words: 70

Blocks: 27

Lots of proper names made this particular Silkie tough to get started, but a few WAGs and I was able to get a foothold in some places, and go from there. (BTW, foothold was what I wanted for 14D). Four sets of triple-sevens, and two sets of triple 10's, with what almost looks like an "S" (for Silk) in the central blocks....

Onward ~!

ACROSS:

1. It eases tension : ICE-BREAKER - "so, how 'bout those Rangers???"

11. Not kosher : TREF - I can hardly remember this word

15. Online identification : SCREEN NAME

16. Meteorological effect caused by refraction : HALO - here's one of the moon

17. Blue blood : ARISTOCRAT - Mud-bloods are from Harry Potter

18. Kennedy Space Center attraction : IMAX - I had ICBM to start, thought one might be on display there - hey, it is a rocket....

19. Orders : DICTA

20. Certain pilgrim : HAJI - Arabic, one who has completed the HAJJ (a crossword staple), the pilgrimage to Mecca

21. "Our House" songwriter : NASH - I had the wrong "Our House" in mind - generational thing, I must say - this is the Madness song of the 80's that I grew up with

22. Some ER admissions : ODs - I went to the hospital to detox, but not from an Over Dose

23. Campus letters : RHOs - the "P" in the Greek Alphabet, but the "R" sound

25. Must : NEED TO

27. Autos featured in the John Wayne film "Big Jake" : REOs - as seen at :29 of this trailer clip

29. Mine sight : ORE CAR

31. Hurt : AIL - had it, took it out, put it back in

32. Chubby Checker's real first name : ERNEST - one of those "you know it, or you don't" clues, but once I had _ _ ST, it was worth a WAG

34. Bond : ALLIANCE - last to fall; I had "RACE DAY" for 12D - 'fast time' - hey, sounded good, but the last "Y" messed me up

36. Yielding : MEEK

38. Its motto is Latin for "Always prepared": Abbr. : USCG - I had USMC at first; their Latin is Semper Fidelis, which I wrongfully thought meant Always Prepared; the proper translation in Always Faithful; Semper Paratus is "Always Prepared" more here

39. Measure of interpersonal skills : SOCIAL IQ - yeah, my IQ is high, but my SOCIAL IQ is lame....I found this link, but I did not take the test yet [ post update - took the test, scored 20 on the "summary", but the whole report costs $6 ]

43. Like the conjunction "since" : CAUSAL

47. "Bed-in for Peace" figure : ONO

48. Shock : TRAUMA

50. Cap-__: from head to toe : APIE -cap-a-pie, the definition

51. Subsidized grad student : FELLOW - new to me

53. Charge carriers : IONs

55. Subway under B'way : IRT - The NYC subway system, more here - over 100yrs old

56. Hill worker : AIDE - POL, DEM, REP, SEN are all too short

57. Zipped through : ACED

59. Bristles : TEEMS

61. Five-time 1970s Phillies All-Star shortstop : BOWA (Larry) - yeah, baseball, I defer to C.C. (From C.C.: Here is his Fleer 1980 card. Also Phillies' manager 2001-2004. Met him before, Dennis?)

62. Cooking aid : NATURAL GAS - well, any fuel is really a "cooking aid"....

64. JFK postings : ETAs - Standard crossword fill; JFK was Idlewild in Queens prior to what happened Forty-Eight years ago

65. Singer/actress discovered by Mahalia Jackson : DELLA REESE - if one says so

66. Old Dodge : DART - tried OMNI to start, and I had a COLT, too



67. "Next?" : ANYONE ELSE~??

DOWN:

1. Joe Lieberman's middle name : ISADORE - again, you know it, or...and I do know Joe; he is sometimes a guest on WPLR's funny morning show from CT, which we get here on LI

2. 1957 Chuck Willis hit : C.C. RIDER - I'm, uh, just gonna link the song, here

3. 11th-century explorer : ERICSON

4. Letter sign-off : BEST - "All my Best", "Best Wishes", "Give my Best to..."

5. Do a road crew's job : RE-TAR

6. Roxy Music alum : ENO - another crossword staple

7. Linchpin : ANCHOR

8. Waters off Siberia : KARA SEA

9. Key with four sharps: Abbr. : E MAJor - JazzB knows this circle better than I do, I am sure

10. Biometric identification technique : RETINAL SCAN - funny, but this one came quickly - guess it's in my wheelhouse

11. Biblical possessive : THINE - Shakespeare (and AA) - "To Thine Own Self Be True"

12. Fast time for many : RAMADAN - ah, the holiday - see my opening quote

13. Flexible : ELASTIC

14. Front creation : FOXHOLE - military front, not to be confused with the weather front of 45D. It may follow a front : AIR MASS

24. 2004 historical film set in Africa : HOTEL RWANDA - this movie

26. Heath family shrub : ERICA - pretty images

28. Automatic opening? : SEMI - handguns, I believe

30. Actor Gulager : CLU - This guy

33. Defunct defense gp. : SEATO - South-East Asia Treaty Organization - more here

35. Eau across the Pyrenees : AGUA - yeah, I knew it was aGua, but my "C" from USMC was not letting it happen

37. Soul maker : KIA - the car, here

39. Convertible of a sort : SOFA BED - I had _ _ BE _, and WAGed BED from that

40. The least bit : ONE IOTA - Do I care? "NOT ONE IOTA ~!!"

41. Bygone CIA concern : COLD WAR

42. Without a fuss : QUIETLY - easy, once the Q from IQ showed up

44. Eponymous mail-order magnate : SPIEGEL - oh yes, but I was caught thinking about this catalog, since this actor hosted the Dog Show this Thanksgiving

46. "I'm thinking ..." : "LET'S SEE"

49. ___ operation: division calculation in computing : MODULO

52. Numerical extreme : LEAST

54. Gawk : STARE

58. Battle of Normandy city : CAEN - map

60. Part of a CSA signature : - Robert E. LEE

63. Bled : RAN - like clothes in the wash

Answer grid.

Splynter

Friday Nov 25, 2011 Stephen Edward Anderson

Theme: PI Day - PI is inserted in each common phrase.

17A. Field operation run by idiots? : STUPID FARM. Stud farm. Funny clue.

23A. Track meet category for joggers? : LOPING DIVISION Long division.

36A. Views from Hamilton? : BERMUDA OPINIONS. Bermuda onions.

49A. Hook on a raft? : FLOATING PIRATE. Floating rate. The interest rate that changes periodically.

59A. Obsessive cleaners? : WIPING NUTS. Wing nuts.

Three in singular form, two in plural. Nice set. You don't want 4 in singular form, and 1 in plural. No odd man out!

Heavy themage (63 squares). The fill is rather clean. Only wish there's a PIS somewhere to unify the theme, to give a rationale/climax for the letter addition gimmick. March 14 will be a perfect day to run this puzzle also.

C.C. again, giving Lemonade a much-needed break for the holiday. I think this is Stephen Edward Anderson's LA Times debut. Congrats!

Across:

1. Sonar pulses : PINGS. Any Ping in your bag, Husker Gary?

6. Subj. for Aristotle : RHET. OK, rhetoric.

10. Staff note : MEMO

14. Gridiron strategy : SNEAK. Football just does not appeal to me.

15. First name in design : EERO (Saarinen)

16. Like much lore : ORAL

19. Diamond homecomings? : RUNS. Diamond = Baseball in late week puzzles.

20. Thrice, in Rx's : TER. Marti is the authority on this clue.

21. Do the honors : POUR. Boomer poured himself some Scotch yesterday, then he said "I'm grateful I can pig out today".

22. Hallmark : BADGE

27. To __ : A TEE

28. Thick : MIDST

29. Stone measuring 5.5 to 6.5 on the Mohs scale : OPAL. Please give stone measuring 10 to your girlfriend/wife.

32. Dojo discipline : JUDO. Ju = Soft/Gentle. Do = Chinese "Dao" = Way

33. Gaelic John : IAN. Ian = John.

41. __ alai : JAI

42. Appoint : NAME

43. Be intimate with : KNOW

44. Scrabble 10-pointer : Z-TILE. I bet Jerome beats everyone in Scrabble.

46. Liqueur flavoring : SLOE

54. Reunion attendees : AUNTS

55. Face-saver of a kind : ALOE. Nice clue.

56. Italian counterpart of the BBC : RAI. No idea. This is the most beautiful RAI (Aishwarya) in the world.

58. Sitter's concern : BRAT

62. Jay with jokes : LENO

63. Ecua. rejoined it in 2007 : OPEC. Hey, they just had a meeting on Wednesday.

64. Alternate version, in scores : OSSIA. Got me, Jazzbumpa. Rooted in "O sia" (let it be), says Dictionary.com

65. Petrol pick : ESSO

66. Slog (through), as tedious text : WADE. "Slog" again. I need to take WADE seriously.

67. Sharp : NATTY

Down:

1. Soft "Yoo-hoo!" : PSST

2. Chip maker : INTEL. Crunchy and fat-free.

3. Surgery opening? : NEURO. Neurosurgery.

4. Disparity : GAP

5. "Never mind" : SKIP IT

6. Place of cover : REFUGE. Can you believe people lie when applying Refugee Visa to the US?

7. Learned : HEARD

8. Bark up the wrong tree : ERR

9. Cartoon cat : TOM

10. Quagmire : MORASS

11. Learning : ERUDITION

12. Juicy fruit : MANGO. Try Whole Foods for SweeTango, Jayce. Or next year. These apples are available for a very short period of time each season. For a limited quantity only. Very precious.

13. '80s-'90s NFL commentator Merlin : OLSEN. His name escaped me again.

18. Cooked : DONE

22. Try to buy : BID ON

24. Date source : PALM. Have you had Medjool dates? So sweet.

25. Groggy words, perhaps : I'M UP. Oh, in bed.

26. Part of an old boast : VIDI (I saw). "Veni, vidi, vici".

29. Vb. target : OBJ. Verb/object.

30. Princess's nighttime problem : PEA

31. Casa Grande residents : ARIZONANS. We have quite a few Arizonans on our blog.

32. Sixpack with no special qualities? : JOE. Joe Sixpack. Disparaging term, no?

34. Yucatán year : ANO

35. Sydney is its cap. : NSW. New South Wales, where Kazie is from.

37. Pecks and feet, e.g. : UNITS

38. Flamboyant surrealist : DALI

39. "Yes!" : AMEN

40. Its headquarters are in Delft : IKEA. Did not know this trivia.

45. Body work? : TATTOO. Any body work, Tinbeni/Ant? You both sound pretty bad.

46. Do some film editing : SPLICE

47. Griffin's rear : LION. Looks majestic!

48. Old trail terminus : OREGON

49. Jean de La Fontaine story : FABLE. French fabulist. "A hungry stomach can not hear". He said.

50. Attracts : LURES. Ah, the macaroni, Dennis!

51. Rubbernecked : GAPED

52. Word on a coin : TRUST. In God we Trust.

53. Weird Al Yankovic song parody : EAT IT. I'm not linking. He's too weird for me.

57. "Indeed!" : I SAY

59. Flabbergast : WOW

60. Type of beer orig. brewed in England : IPA. India Pale Ale.

61. Ultra-secretive gp. : NSA (National Security Agency)

Answer grid.

If you're not happy with the new format of LA Times on-line crossword, please click the Feedback button under the puzzle and voice your opinion. You can also click here or here (Chicago Tribute) to solve the puzzle in old format.

C.C.

Headlines that Shocked the World about Santa

#10 of our Kurious Konundrums series.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! To show our appreciation for your continuous support for our work and this blog, Don G and I constructed this puzzle.

Here is PDF (click on File, then Download).

Here is puz file (click on File, then Download).

Spoiler: Here is the answer grid.

Thanks for solving. And a special Thank You to my blogging crew: Santa Argyle, Melissa, Ron, Al, Marti, Lemonade & Splynter. Thank you for your commitment and hard work. You too, Dennis, thanks for always being there for me.

C.C.

Thursday November 24, 2011 Ruth Ann Dailey

Theme: DIG IN !!

This is what is called a "Definition" type theme, where the same clue is used for different meanings in the answers, like so:

17A. Digs : HIPPIES LODGINGS. "Cool digs, man!"

28A. Digs : TAUNTING REMARKS. Now known as "Diss's"?

45A. Digs : VOLLEYBALL MOVES. Saving a spiked or served ball from hitting your side of the court. (Who knew?)

58A. Digs : ARCHAEOLOGY JOBS. Indiana Jones would have answered this one in a heartbeat!

I believe this is the first puzzle in the LA Times for Ruth Ann Dailey, although she is no stranger to crossword constructing. She writes columns for the Pittsburgh Gazette, and constructs Sunday puzzles there as "The Pittsburgh Puzzler".

Marti here. I hope you will all soon be digging into your Thanksgiving meals!

Across:

1. Photo finish : MATTE. Not glossy or semi-gloss. Matte is a dull finish, suitable for formal portraits.

6. Turned right : GEE'D. "Gee" and "haw" are words used to direct farm animals. I always have trouble remembering my "gee" from my "haw".

10. Caen cleric : ABBÉ. Nothing special about "Caen", other than the fact that it is a French city. And ABBÉ is used as the title of a superior of a monastery in France.

14. Meet the need : AVAIL. Funny word, that. "Do the trick", "Be of use". As in, "To no avail..."

15. Chorus girl : ALTO. Or guy.

16. Catch with the goods, maybe : RAID

20. Amateur ending : ISH

21. Sgt. maj., e.g. : NCO . Non-Commissioned Officer.

22. Uncle Sam feature : GOATEE. Top hat would also fit...

23. "A Dog of Flanders" author : OUIDA. Ouida was her pseudonym. Her real name was Marie Louise del la Ramée. The story is about a boy named Nello and his dog Patrasche. Sad story, ending in the tragic death of the boy and the dog when they freeze to death on Christmas Eve in the Cathedral in Antwerp. You can catch it on TCM late night.

26. Trading place : PIT. The trading "pit" of the NY Stock exchange.

27. Angled joint : ELL

32. Textbook unit : LESSON

33. "Air Music" composer : ROREM. Piano Concerto in Six Parts for which he won the Pulitzer Prize in Music. Parts 1 & 2, here.

34. Alberta native : CREE

35. Limited number, with "the" : FEW ...the proud, the Marines.

36. Mosul's land : IRAQ. Map.

40. Not hide : ADMIT

43. Country with six time zones : CANADA . Map.

49. Syst. of sound syllables : IPA. International Phonetic Alphabet.

50. Mil. ranks : LTS . Lieutenants.

51. Very peculiar : OUTRÉ . French for "excessive". Way out there...

52. 1997 Nicolas Cage hair-raiser : CONAIR. Cons in the air...that about sums it up.

54. First name in objectivism : AYN. Ayn Rand. Read here about objectivism, if you are curious.

55. Overseas denial : NAE . No, nae, never...

62. Bus sched. data : RTES . Routes. Abbr. in clue hints at abbr. in ans.

63. Leap for Scott Hamilton : AXEL. I'm sure there's an axel in here somewhere...but I linked this because Scott Hamilton is just such a joy to watch! (And what a finish!!)

64. Reunion group : ALUMS

65. ___ speak : SO TO.

66. Banks on the tube : TYRA. Model, actress, media personality, author and business mogul as well!

67. Rapper's crew : POSSE. A hip-hop retinue.

Down

1. When repeated, a fish : MAHI - mahi.

2. Name on an airport shuttle : AVIS

3. British tavern : TAP HOUSE

4. Service reward : TIP. If someone does not provide good service, do you still tip?

5. Priest in I Samuel : ELI

6. Garage container : GAS CAN

7. Cockney greeting : 'ELLO.

8. WWII command : ETO

9. More evasive : DODGIER. Interesting word. And from Dickens we get "The Artful Dodger". Evasive character, that one!

10. Spotlit solo : ARIA

11. Teasing : BANTER . Lots of banter on this blog.

12. Omaha chief who was an ally of the U.S. in the War of 1812 : BIG ELK

13. 1950s bombs : EDSELS. The Ford Motor Company failures.

18. Conclude with : END IN

19. "I haven't the foggiest!" : GOT ME!

24. Open, in a way : UNSEAL

25. Simpson judge : ITO. Why did I immediately think of the cartoon Simpsons? (Abu? Stu?...) But then again, who am I TO judge?

26. Bow : PROW.

28. Mom's skill, briefly : TLC. Tender Loving Care, of course!

29. Flying prefix : AER. Shouldn't that have an "o" on the end?

30. "On the Record" host Van Susteren : GRETA

31. Key with no sharps or flats : A MINOR

35. Whopper juniors? : FIBS. Fun clue!

37. Famished : RAVENOUS. Are you all getting ravenous for turkey?

38. Ending for lime : ADE

39. ___ in Quebec : Q, AS

41. Screenwrite Ephron : DELIA

42. Big spender's offer : MY TREAT

43. Held on : CLUNG

44. Qty. : AMT. Quantity / Amount

45. Anglican priests : VICARS

46. Wine city north of Lisbon : OPORTO. The second largest city in Portugal. Their flag is quite pretty.

47. Surgeon's tool : LANCET . Also a doctor's magazine. You can read all about Ocrelizumab and relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis in the current issue.

48. Common Jesuit school : LOYOLA

53. Semi-serious "I see" : AH SO

54. One of the Sox, e.g. : AL-ER. American League-er

56. Silo contents: Abbr. : ABMs. Anti Ballistic Missles. Not the farm type of silo.

57. Latin 101 verb : ESSE. To be, or not to be...

59. Acne Treatment brand : OXY. Skin car brand. Real People. Real Results. Real Fast.

60. You may be told to shut yours : YAP. Oh, sorry! Have I been yakking too much?

61. "Out of Sight" co-star, familiarly : J-LO. Jennifer Lopez, in case you have been living under a rock for the last few years...

Answer grid.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody, and a very special THANK YOU to C.C. for making this wonderful, fun corner possible!

Hugs,

Marti

Note from C.C.:

If you're not happy with the new format of LA Times on-line crossword, please click the Feedback button under the puzzle and voice your opinion. You can also click here or here (Chicago Tribute) to solve the puzzle in old format.