Saturday, Nov 12, 2011, Steve Salitan

Theme: None

Words: 70

Blocks: 34

A new constructor for me, Steve Salitan, and this is his first LAT Saturday, though we last had a Thursday puzzle from him with "Rounds" as the theme. One grid spanner crossing a climber with-

35A. Strategy-change declaration : NO MORE MR. NICE GUY - which makes me think of this song; and, at first, with MRN _ _ EGU _, looking hard to parse.

8D. "No clue" : IT'S ALL GREEK TO ME - anyone remember this song?

Triple stacks of tens with a sort of smiley-face in the center - gotta keep it friendly, because this one looked like it could beat me early on....

ACROSS:

1. R&B singer whose given name is Antoine : FATS DOMINO - I have two music links in, you can supply the rest, my fellow bloggers ~!

11. Repose : CALM

15. 1984 Robert Urich sci-fi comedy, with "The" : ICE PIRATES - I saw this flick, and liked it, although it was a bit tasteless, and Mr. Urich did not have much work after it - "oh no, Space Herpes" - "ALIEN" spoof scene

16. Not right : AWRY - I did try LEFT to start, being LEFT-handed

17. Daring swingers : AERIALISTS

18. They follow pis : RHOS - GREEK letters, and no, they're not GREEK to me

19. Rolling set : TIRES

20. Mariner gp. : NASA - Mariner went to Venus and Mars, here's NASA on it

21. Pub serving : PINT - BEER was not going to work

22. Dutch burg : STAD - an early WAG

23. St. with an arc-shaped northern border : DEL - Delaware; though it could be W.Va, Wis., and others; take a look here

24. Longtime Yankee announcer Allen : MEL - I may be in New York, but I despise the Yankees - not much of a baseball fan ( sorry, C.C.) - big "Broadway Blueshirts" fan

25. Hurt amount? : WORLD - "oh, you're about to be in a WORLD of hurt...." - Chuck Norris; see below

27. Not able : INEPT

30. Belgian leadership group, to some residents : SENAT

33. Age badly, as jokes : GET STALE - are these stale? (some language)

37. Binging : ON A SPREE - Too early in the morning, I was looking for the sound of a "BING"

38. Iberian bread : EUROS - Iberian :: bread = European :: money

39. Charity, e.g. : DONEE - that which gets your donation

40. "Moll Flanders" author : DEFOE

42. Drunk's end : ARD - I was a drunkARD, once

43. Awareness : KEN - was Ken "aware" of Barbie's indiscretions in the mobile home?

44. Calf warmer : SOCK - I tried SOCK, and it stayed

48. Source of low-alcohol wines : ASTI

50. Small red crawlers : EFTS - hand up for ANTS to start?

52. Soprano role in Bizet's "The Pearl Fishers" : LEILA

53. Game interruption : RAIN - mostly baseball

54. Vegetable storage area : ROOT CELLAR

56. Block : CLOG

57. 1951 play that inspired "Cabaret" : "I AM A CAMERA" - the short Wiki

58. Lobster moms : HENS - thought it might be COWS; learning moment

59. Knows something is rotten in Denmark : SMELLS A RAT - a 'Pied Piper' reference???

DOWN:

1. Royal orders : FIATs - not the new craze in "mini" car, but this

2. Play a par-3 perfectly : ACE IT - and eagle (2-under) on a par three golf hole is a hole-in-one

3. Earth : TERRA - Latin, as in Terra Firma - solid ground

4. Looked through a knothole, say : SPIED

5. Semana parts : DIAS

6. Florida NBA team, on scoreboards : ORLando, the Magic

7. Augusta native : MAINER - from the state of Maine, meh

9. Fishing gear : NETS

10. Tasmania's highest peak : OSSA

11. One working on a board : CARPENTER - one working WITH a board - hey ~! That's me~!

12. Some time back : A WHILE AGO - I think this is a good song/band/album name...smooooth

13. "Fear" author Hubbard : L. RON - Mr. Scientology

14. Riven is its sequel : MYST - great thinking computer game, where you have to unlock codes, secrets, clues and hints - I found them to be very difficult

23. Indulgent sort : DOTER

24. Error : MISCUE - especially shooting pool

25. Crooked : WARPED - like my sense of humor, and personality

26. Home room : DEN - the only other one I could think of was "MUD"

28. And : PLUS - too, also, hence, therefore, ergo, etc....

29. "Brat Farrar" novelist : TEY (Josephine)

30. Prefix with gram : SONO - sonogram, the image from a sound pulse device in hospitals and such

31. Outflow : EMANATION

32. Unsubtle jewelry : NOSE-RINGS - yes, unsubtle, and not very attractive, IMHO - the nose stud is not so bad....

34. Attach, in a way : TIE-ON

35. Choice indicator : NOD

36. __ school : MEDical

41. Celebratory : FESTAL

44. Name on a southern National Historic Trail sign : SELMA

45. Crude carrier : OILER

46. Santa __: Intel headquarters : CLARA

47. Measure of rock fineness? : KARAT - my measure is how good are you compared to Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Blue Öyster Cult, Mötley Crüe, etc. - did anyone else celebrate "National Metal Day" for 11-11-11 ???

48. Crafty : ARCH - as in one's ARCH enemy

49. Pitcher's success : SALE - oh, a salesman's pitch, not baseball - OK, so maybe I do know a little bit about baseball; I went with "SAVE"

50. Goddess of discord : ERIS

51. Head of a bar? : FOAM - a 42A likes to see the foamy head on a 21A - but not for long....

52. Open stretches : LEAS - fields

55. A quarter of M : CCL - Roman M = 1000 ÷ 4 =250, C+C+L - a shout out to our blog host?

Answer grid.

Splynter

Friday, November 11, 2011, Don Gagliardo and C. C. Burnikel

THEME: Leaping Lizards, we have leaking letters! The first letter of a common phrase 'leaks' off the page, leaving a new and humorously clued phrase. The first two depart on the left, with the first letter going bye bye, and the last two leave on the right, losing the last letter. Another new trick to keep you guessing as part of what I found to be a very challenging puzzle. Fresh cluing, interesting subjects and another fine entry from our own dynamic duo. All on the rare 11/11/11 ; a double honor. Let's see what else we have here.

17A. Jack Benny's 39?: WAGE FREEZE. I did not stop at 39, I go backwards as long as my age is divisible; this year I am 21. We have not had a wage freeze since Jimmy Carter.

24A. Mix-up among the peas?: IPOD SHUFFLE. Nice imagery, and one of Apple's major successes.

51A. Amorous ship leader?: CAPTAIN COOK. Cooing comes from love birds, and Captain Cook, while not as famous as Captain Crunch, Cook a British looker (explorer) did introduce Europe to New Zealand, Australia and Hawaii, right K man?

59A. Bird with a droll wit?: DRY MARTINI. Martins are types of swallows (the birds, not the spit or swallow swallow controversy) and Martinis have made a major comeback.

and the reveal:

36A. Julian Assange's controversial website, and a hint to what's missing from this puzzle's four longest answers : WIKI LEAKS. Do you all remember the big scandal? See the authors' comment below. I was more amazed to read this ARTICLE than the original news.

Across:

1. REO part: OLDS. I do not like it when I start in reverse, and REO in my current existence means Real Estate Owned, or what the foreclosed homes become, not the famous automaker and crossword staple Ransom E. Olds, who apparently actually invented the assembly line.

5. 7-Down portrayer on "Frasier": PERI. Gilpin, who played 7. See 5-Across: ROZ, a fine SITCOM character.

9. Medicine cabinet item: RAZOR. Gee, a simple one.

14. First-century Roman leader: NERO. Go watch I Claudius, the PBS series starring Derek Jacobi as Claudius, Nero's uncle.

15. Cross: ROOD. Oh boy had to really dig in my brain for this one, it symbolizes the crucifixion and is usually set up in the entry to a church. A difficult religious reference.

16. Lickety-split: A PACE. Ah, the A word.

19. Was about to blow up : FUMED.

20. Mizrahi of "The Fashion Show": ISAAC. I guess Asimov is too easy for Friday, but I never heard of this designer and REALITY TV guy.

21. Insurance co. employee: AGT. Co. = company: AGT = Agent.

23. __-relief: BAS. Low contrast sculpture.

27. Top-shelf : A-ONE.

28. Charlotte-to-Raleigh dir : ENE.

29. Texas NLer : STRO. Well, the only National League team in Texas is the Houston Astros.

30. Aslan's land : NARNIA. The Lion in the Chronicles. C. S. Lewis, the author, who was a Christian apologist, described Aslan as an alternative version of Christ, that is, as the form in which Christ might have appeared in a fantasy world. Hmm, more religion?

32. "It __ Nice": '60s protest song : IS N'T. Never heard it, when we were in the admin buildings it was either dirges or We Shall Overcome.

34. Doubter: AGNOSTIC. A little sub-theme perhaps with C. S. Lewis and 13D. Site of a legendary parting: RED SEA. Another religious reference; I thought of this PARTING, ladies? Also, 42D. Rigorously abstinent: ASCETIC. Self-discipline and abstinence in some form and degree are parts of religious practice within many religious and spiritual traditions, including Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam. Not to be confused with the fun loving aesthetics who seek pleasure. The modern agnostics are an impressive GROUP.

39. Federal statute trumps it: STATE LAW. The preemption doctrine.

41. New England law school: YALE.

45. Mercury, e.g.: PLANET. Metal was too short.

46. Old school addition?: MARM. Such a nice old fashioned word.

49. Rolls around the house: SOD. Sod is often sold in big round rolls, so it easier to lay to make a lawn. also a favorite word among British policemen in fiction.

50. Hierarchy level: RUNG. Climbing the ladder of success.

54. Bug: IRK. I do not know why but I hate bugs.

55. Third deg.?: PHD. Bachelors, masters and...

56. Like some tragedies: GREEK.

57. Club relative: SPADE. Let's call it like it is.

63. Earn: MERIT.Like all the raises no one is getting.

64. Tulip chair designer Saarinen: EERO. You must know this name to do puzzles.

65. Chianti, for one: VINO. From Tuscany. Italian.

66. Swamp plant: SEDGE. A large family of plants including the water chestnut and the papyrus sedge from which the Ancient Egyptian writing material was made. This family also includes cotton-grass, spike-rush and out Florida favorite, sawgrass which grows from the Everglades.

67. Speak like Don Corleone: RASP.

68. Ticker tapes, briefly?: ECGS. ElectroCardioGrams. Cute clue.

Down:

1. __ mission: ON A. Yes, we are half way and we are heading to the finish line.

2. Throngs: LEGIONS.

3. Saxony's capital : DRESDEN. The famous CITY of arts which was featured so prominently in Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five. A great book which became a great movie.

4. Beds, at times: SOFAS. Especially the king ones, right guys.

5. Like some quilt kits: PRE-CUT. Quilts? Really?

6. Want ad letter : EOE. Equal Opportunity Employer.

8. Pipe dream, say: IDEAL. Why would dreaming about a pipe be ideal? A cigar maybe; oh maybe they mean like in the sink.

9. Castaway's creation: RAFT. Wilson, where are you?

10. "The Simpsons" character with an 18-letter last name: APU. Nahasapeemapetilon, easy for you to say.

11. Big name on the ice: ZAMBONI. The big machine used to smooth the surface of ice.

12. Vast: OCEANIC.

18. Fan support: RAHS. Rah Rah Ree, kick them in the knee; Rah Rah Rass, kick them in the other knee.

22. Ligurian seaport: GENOA. Well, now I know the part of Italy that borders France is part of Liguria and is also where San Remo is located. All I knew about the area was the salami, salame genovese di Sant'Olcese. No baloney.

24. Shar-__: PEI. The wrinkle dogs from china. have you all eaten at a PEI WEI?

25. Weak: FRAIL.

26. Aid on a misty night: FOG LAMP. I had trouble with this, not realizing I was in a car on that misty night.

27. Pretentious: ARTSY. Rhymes with fartsy.

31. "Don't __!": ASK. Don't tell, now a thing of the past.

33. Country music sound: TWANG. Did anyone watch the CMA show Wednesday?

35. Just starting : NEW AT. For anyone doing their first crossword puzzle today, come back Monday and start again.

37. Suffix with vulcan: ITE. This has nothing to do with Spock, but the copper telluride mineral.

38. Craft with a mizzen : KETCH. Like the Yawl, a two masted ship, with a smaller jigger mast and a mizzen mast. Jeannie?

39. 7-Eleven beverage: SLURPEE. Not to be confused with Apu's Squishy or even an ICEE. (2:08) funny?

40. Vessel with a hinged cover: TANKARD. A beer reference; similar to a beer stein. Not every tankard has a lid.

43. Exploring : LOOKING. Like Captain Cook.

44. Shogun stronghold: EDO. Now known as Tokyo.

45. Binocular features: PRISMS.

47. 1950 #1 Ames Brothers hit: RAGMOP. Before becoming famous as Mongo on Daniel Boone, and for his tomahawak throwing on Johnny Carson, Ed Ames was one of these singing BROTHERS.

48. She played Romy in "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion": MIRA. Daughter of actor and opera singer Paul; she also won an Oscar for Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite.

52. Scary snake: ADDER. A family of deadly snakes, like the black adder and even the puff adder, not to be confused with Mr. Bean.

53. Fortitude: NERVE. Well those of you have made it this far in this wonderful but exhausting Friday effort have shown guts.

55. Tennis great Sampras: PETE. The American with the most major titles in tennis; his total was exceeded by Roger Federer.

58. Shovel: DIG.

60. Mens __: criminal intent: REA. Oh goody, a legal term meaning generally a 'guilty mind.' It is the intent part of a criminal act.

61. Sch. levels: YRS. What year is your son now?

62. Signs of resistance: NOS. Not yes, but no.

Answer grid.

Another Friday done, and the joy of blogging a hard G and C.C. special. That and it is Veteran's Day tomorrow so I do not have to get up early. Be sure to remember all who have served, and those who gave their lives. Sears donates money to our servicemen, and whether a war is popular or not, the soldiers deserve our support, respect and gratitude. Thanksgiving is coming so all of you old timers who are now quiet, all you lookie lous and and the rest please plan on saying at least hi, or more on Wednesday November 23, 2011 for our second annual check in and check up. Thanks all.

Constructors Note:

"Terry Gross's interview with a NY Times reporter regarding Times' publishing of WikiLeaks' cable inspired this theme. We thought it would be fun to orderly leak WIKI from the left and right edges of the grid. Rich liked the contemporariness of the theme, though Don and I were concerned that the puzzle would lose its relevance when it finally runs."

Thursday, November 10 2011, Bill Thompson

Theme: “Say the secret word and win yourself a hundred dollars!” - Hint: It’s a “VETO”, hidden in the pockets of the theme entries.

17A. Symbolic gifts: LOVE TOKENS. For Valentine’s day, do you give “symbolic gifts” like chocolate hearts or roses? Or, something really significant like diamonds, or even a Ferrari??

22A. Exasperate: DRIVE TO DRINK. My mother always yelled this to us kids, although I don’t remember her ever taking anything stronger than a tiny glass of Ernest and Julio Gallo on New Year’s Eve…

35A. Soother for men: AFTERSHAVE TONIC. Would that be with gin??

45A. Indigenous language: NATIVE TONGUE. Mine is English. What’s yours?

and the unifier:

56A. President’s option, and a hint to the puzzle theme in17-, 22-, 35- and 45-Across: POCKET VETO. In this case, VE-TO is split the same way in all four theme entries. In other puzzles, constructors might try to split a hidden word in different ways. But can you think of common phrases with words ending in –v and the next beginning with eto-, or ending in –vet and beginning with o-? (I didn’t think so…)

Marti here, so it must be Thursday again. (Really, already??) (Yep, so get crackin’!) (OK, OK, already!)

Across:

1. Gaucho’s weapon: BOLA

5. What two lanterns in the Old North Church signified: BY SEA. From “Paul Revere’s Ride”, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

“…One if by land, and two if by sea:

And I on the opposite shore will be…”

10. Shenanigan: LARK

14. “Paradise Lost” setting: EDEN

15. Assessed: RATED

16. Holder of small tools: ETUI. Hello, old crosswordese friend!

19. Jose’s hand: MANO … a mano.

20. Like some ink cartridges: TRI-COLOR. I just bought a new printer today, but it only does B&W.

21. Vitruvian Man is on some Italian ones: EUROS. This is the Vitruvian Man, by Leonardo da Vinci.

Unfortunately, more people recognize him from this movie than from the work in the Louvre…

22. Pago Pago resident: SAMOAN

28. Sosa’s 1,667, briefly: RBIs. HA!! I knew this had to be a baseball clue, as I am beginning to recognize Sammy Sosa as some guy in baseball. But it still eluded me, if the clue was looking for ERAs or RBIs. Sighhh….OK, C.C. I did my due diligence: Sammy Sosa is from the Dominican Republic, and while a member of the Chicago Cubs, he and Mark McGuire achieved national fame for their ability to hit home-runs.

29A. Conspiracy theorist’s worry: PLOT

30. Zeno, notably: STOIC. (I had the “C” from filling in EDICT down…so what else could it be??)

32. Styled after: A LA. As in “Chicken à la King” (Does that mean the king is a chicken??). and a clecho with 33D. Styled after : LIKE

39. Stadium sound: RAH. Or boooo, if they are playing badly?

40. Shake: ELUDE. As in, shake (off) the cops.

41. Victory goddess: NIKE. And you thought she was just a sneaker, huh?

42. ___ Deion: NFL nickname: NEON. I had no clue, but with N-ON from perps, not hard to guess the rhyming nickname here.

43. Bk. After Proverbs: ECCLES. “Bk.” gives the hint that the answer is an abbr. of “Ecclesiastes”. (I had the darndest time spelling out that full name just now!!)

50. Selectric selection: ELITE. Does anyone still use an IBM Selectric (electric) typewriter? And, just which“Elite” does the answer refer to? There was the Elite 72, Auto Elite, LargeElite (12), Prestige Elite 72, Prestige Elite 96…not to mention the Presidential Elite!

51. Became one lane, say: NARROWED. Boston is famous for having 16 lanes narrow into one. So do you wonder why we have such aggressive drivers??

55. Hammer feature: CLAW. Ok, hands up for whoever entered the crosswordese “peen” here. (one, two, three, four, five…)

58. Soprano TeKanawa: KIRI. To my surprise, not everyone appreciates a pure operatic soprano voice like this. Do you?

59. Gets zero mpg: IDLES.

60. First name in bike stunts: EVEL. Knievel, motorcycle daredevil of the 70’s. After living through all of his unbelievable stunts, he died of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

61. Fall runner’s goal, perhaps: SEAT. Fall elections, that is.

62. Requirements: NEEDS

63. Take it easy: REST

So, after our brief REST, let’s continue

Down:

1. Whack: BELT. OK, OK, I’m awake after my REST!!

2. Glade target: ODOR. “Ewwww…fried fish tonight, dear??”

3. “Hello, Dolly!”surname: LEVI.

5. Josh of "True Grit" (2010) : BROLIN. I liked John Wayne better than this guy...

6. Comedian Smirnoff : YAKOV. Funny guy, famous for his ironic portrayals of life under communism. But back in the 80's, it seemed more "cutting edge" than it would now, I guess.

7. Cordwood measure : STERE

8. Bard's nightfall : E'EN

9. Many pop-ups : ADS. grrr, I hate those things!

10. Madagascar mammals : LEMURS

11. Asteroids maker : ATARI

12. Syntax problem : RUNON (... like the answer)

13. Newsstand booth : KIOSK

18. When said three times, a WWII film : TORA

21. Order from on high : EDICT

23. Valuable stash : TROVE

24. Tony's cousin : OBIE. Not Tony Orlando, silly! The American Theater awards.

25. Bandy words : SPAR. Do you bandy words with your boss? My DH would check to see if the spar tar was in good condition before going on a long trip. But then, he is from the south...

26. It's five before Foxtrot : ALFA. NATO phonetic alphabet.

27. Light-headed insect? : MOTH. Loved this clue! And a chance for a fav song.

30. Railroad switch : SHUNT. Much better clue than "Atrial septal defect with left-to-right ___"

31. Smidgen : TAD

32. Indigo dye source : ANIL

34. Whizzes : ACES. (Oops! I put "pees")

36. "The Canterbury Tales" estate manager : REEVE. "The Reeve's Tale" is the third of the Canterbury tales.

37. Gin flavoring : SLOE. Oh, here's the gin I was looking for at 35A !!

38. Quick look : ONCE-OVER. Hmmm, wanna come up and see me some time?

42. Dipstick : NITWIT

43. Door to the street : EGRESS

44. Brusque : CURT

45. Kisses and then some : NECKS... Hmmm, wanna come up and see me some time?

46. Kate's TV roommate : ALLIE. "Kate and Allie", a popular TV series in the 80's.

47. Regal topper : TIARA

48. Frère de la mère : ONCLE. Sorry Abejo, here is your required French entry...

49. Blunt, as truth : NAKED. Yeh, sure. We know how this was originally clued, right?
:
:
:
("The ___ Ape" !!)

52. "Houston, __ had a problem" : WE'VE. Often misquoted as "Houston, we have a problem..."

53. Nice warm times : ETES. Ahhh, here's our nice misdirection. Nice, as in the city in southern France. I would really, really love to see this just once clued as "Summers (Fr.)" (Sorry Abejo, that makes two in one puzzle!)

54. Dimbulb : DOLT

56. Verb associated with blame : PIN. Not the tail on the donkey?

57. Neruda's "__ to Conger Chowder" : ODE. You really should read this...it is a very different poetic offering than the dishes served up by our dear Clear Ayes!

Answer grid.

Thanks for stopping by, and feel free to comment!

Hugs,

Marti