Saturday, Feb 4th, 2012, James Sajdak

Theme: None

Words: 68

Blocks: 32

I'm DEAF ~!!! Just came back from a live show, great bands, including my buddy's original tunes group, "Evil Eye", which I think played out for the first time tonight. Came home, jumped right into this puzzle, and it was a "BEHEMOTH"....Lots of really obscure names and concepts, some I had to drag up from the depths of my brain. Looked bleak, but in the end, I finished under my personal time, but not without red-letter help in the SE corner - I just did not know three foreign words and a fictional (?) city. Oh well, every now and then I need to be 'sacked' by a Saturday constructor.

Two spanners, one climber;

17A. Blue chip, e.g. : SOUND INVESTMENT - A list of some; and speaking of --- BLUE --- Sorry, BarryG....Brady needs to get sacked, too ~!

55A. Fitness ideal : PICTURE OF HEALTH - Here's my guys playing tonight - such a picture of health, right???

8D. "You look familiar ..." : HAVE WE MET BEFORE? Didn't try this line with any of the "metal chicks" that were there tonight - they all seemed to be "taken"

Onward ~!

ACROSS:

1. Monster : BEHEMOTH - I like MONSTER, the drink; it's what I have when I go out instead of anything alcoholic

9. "Doesn't anyone else see this?" : IS IT ME ?

15. Ivory tower milieu : ACADEMIA

16. Ottoman officials : PASHAs

19. It's south of Vesuvius : ETNA

20. Vermont ski resort : OKEMO - trail map....how's the skiing, HeartRx ?

21. Bar choice : SODA - these days, it's my choice if I don't smuggle in a Monster

22. URL part : DOT - Had "COM" first

23. Lamb kin : EWE

24. Flushed : RED

25. Small change, maybe : ONES - Had "CENT" first

27. Réunion attendee : FRERE - Had "ONCLE" first; the é implies French, so I went with Uncle, turned out to be Brother

29. Job transfer consequence, for short : RELOcation

30. Winner of the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Music : NED ROREM - One of those "seen it in crosswords before" answers

32. Incan herd members : LLAMAS - I think they look cool, but I like their camel cousins better

34. Artisan : TRADESMAN - I consider myself a tradesman; actually have some work to post to my other blog

36. Horn of Africa native : SOMALI

39. Disney character voiced by Robby Benson : THE BEAST - Er, this guy

43. Spacewalks, for short : EVAs - Extra Vehicular Activities

44. Bargaining side : LABOR - Right now, I am on "THIS" side of the bargaining table; I am still waiting to hear about the "DARK SIDE" (management) position....

46. Uruguay's Punta del __ : ESTE

47. Pump choice: Abbr. : REGular - Gasoline, octane

48. Augsburger's article : DER - Not "EIN"

49. Neapolitan crowd? : TRE - Italian 'three'

50. Spring bloomer : IRIS - Not "LILY"

52. Soft bunches : TUFTS - tough clue to understand until you get it; 'soft bunches' of what?

54. Foot massage expert? : POET - Anyone else think of Pulp Fiction here ?  Poetry is usually written in "feet", a basic metrical unit in Western verse

58. 17th/18th-century division of New France : ACADIA

59. Motel posting : ROOM RATE

60. Grammer with Emmys : KELSEY - This guy, who won for Frasier, the show and the character; he's not a Grammy with an Emmer....

61. Intern, often : E.R. DOCTOR

DOWN:

1. Adaptation words : BASED ON - like the film was a adapted from the book; "Bladerunner" was BASED ON Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"

2. Transition zone between plant communities : ECOTONE - Straight up definition

3. Obsessed : HAUNTED

4. Poet __ St. Vincent Millay : EDNA - another name from the depths of my crossword knowledge

5. NSAID, e.g. : MED - Non-Steroid Anti-Inflammatory Drug

6. "__ babbino caro": "Oh my beloved father" (Puccini) : O MIO - Tough to parse in the vertical

7. Monkeyed (with) : TINKERED

9. __ fatso: bit of Archie Bunker language-mangling : IPSO

10. Didn't play : SAT

11. Creeds : -ISMs

12. Euclidean proposal : THEOREM

13. Honoree of a six-meter-high Johannesburg statue : MANDELA

14. Oaxaca y Veracruz : ESTADOS

18. Part of FEMA: Abbr. : EMER

26. Guayaquil girls: Abbr. : SRTAs

27. Delicate : FRAIL

28. Iconic bull : ELMER - El Tor? El Cid? Oh, DUH....



29. Indian princess : RANEE

31. Team that plays in Fla.'s Amway Center : ORLando

33. Chocolate companion? : LABrador - the dogs, my friends

35. An abbreviation of : SHORT FOR

36. LPGA star who is the youngest living World Golf Hall of Fame inductee : SE RI PAK - total unknown, but a great CW fill; more HERE

37. Not neat : OVER ICE - Hell, NO, right Tin???

38. Mysteriously enchanting : MAGICAL

40. Elaine's home, in Arthurian legend : ASTOLAT - CAMELOT fit, which didn't help; here's the WIKI

41. Close overlap of fugue voices : STRETTO - New musical term for me; again, the WIKI

42. Ring around a crib? : TEETHER - cute, the baby's mouthpiece

45. Score words for a pair : ADUE

51. Criteria: Abbr. : STDs

52. Caterer's delivery : TRAY

53. Like many horses : SHOD - not "SHOW"

54. Seurat's Seine scene : PARC - DAH ~!! F'n French got me again; I tried BANC, thought I was all clever....

56. Road reversal, familiarly : UIE - seen it as "UEY", too, but essentially, a U-TURN

57. Punk rock offshoot : EMO

Also wanted to add that the other bands that played tonight were an Iron Maiden cover band, "Live After Death", and a Zeppelin cover band, "Black Dog" - check them out, too ~!!

Answer grid.

Splynter

Friday, February 3, 2012, David Steinberg

Theme: IN RE FRIDAY. The letters RE are placed In front of the second word of phrases in the language, creating a new and scintillating expression. This puzzle appears to be the LAT debut of the NYT wunderkid DAVID STEIN-BERG who while in middle school at 14, had his first NYT puzzle published. I am so impressed by this and his other work, considering his age and varied knowledge. The theme is simple, but he packed lots of letter 2 11's, 2 13's and the grid-spanning middle. Two of the theme fill are very witty and the puzzle is not filled with teenage trivia, like rappers or JWOW. Let's get to work.

17A. Communications problem?: PHONE RECALL. Like some iPhones.

20A. Summary of a shrinking mass? POLAR ICE RECAP. The Polar Ice Cap revisited.

36A. Title for the longest bridge?: EXTENSION RECORD. I hope you all plugged into the theme by this point.

50A. Construction site order?: RAISE THE REBAR. We all remember the use of rebar to reinforce.

57A. Hardly the award for Chernobyl?: BEST REACTOR. Sick nuclear disaster humor; I like this kid.

So now we examine the rest of his effort.

Across:

1. Pre-Columbian Indians: INCAS. Were all up and down the west coast of South America, if you want to know more, read this LINK.

6. Went headfirst, maybe: SLID. Pete Rose comes to mind.

10. Persian, for one: CAT. Pretty but they shed and destroy those with dander allergies.

13. Wild weather: STORM. My favorite LINK.(2:14)

14. Heavy reading: TOMES. The other half of pithy from earlier this week.

16. Suffix with Seattle: ITE. Our constructor is from Washington State.

19. Sleep acronym: REM. Rapid Eye Movement. What happens when you dream.

22. Capital of Colorado?: CEE. The letter which is capitalized. Not capital.

24. T designation: LGE. T shirt size.

25. Marlin's son, in a 2003 film: NEMO. Marlin, voiced by Albert Brooks, is Nemo's father and Coral is Nemo's mother. Both are clownfish.

26. Caused an insurrection: UPROSE. Hence uprising.

28. Court maneuver: PIVOT. Basketball court.

32. Jungle noise: ROAR. She is woman.

33. Characterize : DESCRIBE. A literal clue and fill.

40. Two-part answer: YES AND NO. Do you love this puzzle?

41. Vet: EX-GI. Great letter combo with fair clue.

42. Bangkok natives: THAIS. You heard of the ones who liked using string. The Thais that bind.

43. Pennsylvania home of Lafayette College: EASTON. More famous to me for the ASSASSIN.

45. Control: TAME. You can slow him down, but you cannot keep him down.

48. Well-chosen: APT. The In Re theme was well chosen for me.

49. Colorado native: UTE.

56. Signs of press conference uncertainty: UMS. Gee, ahh, you know...

60. Type of screen, briefly: LCD. Liquid Crystal Display. Not to be confused with LSD.(see 37D).

61. Put down: WRITE. C'mon put down your thoughts on paper and give them to me. But don't put me down when you do. Put me down for two tickets.

62. Prey catcher: TALON. Eagles Falcons, and not from the NFL.

63. "__-hoo! : YOO. The drink?

64. Marine: Abbr.: NAUT.ical.

65. City south of Florence: SIENA. Part of TUSCANY. Also San Gimigiano from Martha Grimes and Melrose Plant. With 4D. Florence's river ARNO. LINK

Down:

1. Co. for surfers: ISP. Internet Service Provider. web not water surfers.

2. Degree in math?: NTH. Soundth right to me.

3. Work together: COOPERATE. We Corner denizens try.

5. Is suspicious: SMELLS. Something smells rotten in Denmark. Our Will reference of the day.

6. Firewood measure: STERE. The old metric name for a cubic meter. In the US we do our cut wood in cords.

7. Activity centers : LOCI. Just Latin for Place..

8. Apple's G5, e.g.: iMAC. Any of you own one?

9. Take out: DELE. Before you get all nit and picky, this is a WORD, not an abbreviation.

10. Enchantress who lived on the island Aeaea: CIRCE. Which relates to 21D. Draws in: ENTICES. Do you all remember the SIRENS link with ELLE?

11. Starters: A-TEAM. When I had the ATE, I was confused trying to recall a two letter appetizer.

12. Presto, for one: TEMPO. JzB, can you teach all our choices?

15. 35mm camera initials: SLR.. single-lens reflex. The name derives from the reflection of the image.

18. Continue violently: RAGE. A dangerous thing.

22. Medicine, one would hope: CURE. Seldom the case, more likely to find something for you to take for the rest of your days.

23. Modeling aid: EPOXY. A strong glue, but Dennis and his hobby store can tell you more.

27. Agamemnon's avenger: ORESTES. My sons FIL and a great piece of MYTHOLOGY.

28. Lowly workers: PEONS. It is not true this word comes from describing the poor serfs who were outside the wall when the Lords and Ladies had to relieve themselves.

29. "This __ joke!": IS NO. I know nut I am trying hard to get there.

30. Taper?: VCR. You, the machine which tapes.

31. Its processing produces slag: ORE. Isn't slag a great word, and a new way to clue a cw staple.

33. Actress Conn: DIDI. A semi call out to our own FRENCHIE, Conn's character in GREASE.

34. Critter in a domed shell: BOX TURTLE.A North American species which like man, eats pretty much everything it can catch.

35. Cereal killer: ERGOT. Really fun clue to describe this disease that attacks plants, especially grains like Rye. It is the root of LSD, and may have created the Salem witch hysteria. If you want to know more you can go to this LINK, or maybe you want to try some LSD? 37D. "Forget it!": NAH.

38. "'Twas white then as the new-fa'en __": Alexander Anderson: SNA. Snow in the highlands. I miss CA and her poems, anyway AA wrote the classic CUDDLE DOON.

39. Thing to do in style: DINE. Bill G. has recounted many a fine meal here.

43. Foil alternative: EPEE. With the saber, the three fencing swords.

44. Diamond turns: AT BATS. Baseball diamond.

45. For real: TRULY.

46. Transmission repair franchise: AAMCO. Luckily for you all I could not find the double A M C O jingle.

47. Screw up: MIS DO. In Game of Thrones, people mislike, not dislike.

48. Stop on the Métro?: ARRET. Our French lesson of the day, the word just mean stop, but the accent aigu tells you it is French.

51. "Charlotte's Web" monogram: EBW. Elwyn Brooks White, who also wrote of Stuart Little and Elements of Style.

52. Beach flier: TERN. Relatives of the Gulls, but not this SONG (4:02).

53. Yu the Great's dynasty: HSIA. I defer to you C.C., as I thought his was the XIA dynasty. (From C.C.: Xia (Mandarin) and Hsia (Cantonese) are the same. Xia means "summer". Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han, Tang... order of Chinese dynasties. Hence my Mandarin name Zhou Qin, two of the consecutive dynasties whose capital was in Xi'An, where I grew up.)

54. Famous last words: ET TU. Brutus.

55. Berry used as a dietary supplement: ACAI. The miracle drug of the internet; if I were paid for every unwanted ad I received on this very blue berry...

58. Bass ending: OON. Our musical clue; not to be confused with the OBOE.

59. Protein-building polymer: RNA. Polymer is from the Greek POLY meaning many, MER parts; it is now associated with large molecules with repeating structure. Beyond that, ask our scientists.

Answer grid.

Well another Lemonade special in the books, it was fun, but a 15 year old? Why was I not doing this then? More winter in PA and early spring in WI? Have a great week all and welcome David; I know it must be past your bedtime, but we will talk in the morning.

Thursday, February 2, 2012 Don Gagliardo and C.C. Burnikel

Theme: Hot as Ice. 3:17 Each of the theme entries uses just the opposite of the normal phrase, in terms of "temperature". So, definitely a "climate change".

17A.Tropical roadside area? : HOT SHOULDER. O.K. guys (and gals), 'fess up: how many of you have received the "Cold shoulder", lately??? If I were in Cancun, I think the "shoulder" of the road might be quite hot.

23A.Roughly, San Jose's population acting friendly? : WARM MILLION. I'd like to have a "Cool million" in my bank account right now. San Jose actually has a population of 945,942 people as of the latest census. So, "roughly" a million...and I hear they are quite friendly!

45A.Sentiments from a hepcat? : COOL REGARDS. I sign my emails to close associates "Fond Regards", but I guess it would be just as appropriate to say "Warm regards". If I were a hepcat, I guess I could be cool...

53A.Polar exploration? : COLD PURSUIT. Have you ever watched "Bad Boys" on cable? The cops are often in "Hot pursuit" of perps (that is, "perpetrators"). (...not to be confused with "perpendiculars", or "crossing" answers, as referred to on this blog...). But, if I were like Ernest Shackleton, I might think twice about making another cold polar pursuit!

The unifier sits in the middle of this grid:

35A.Environmental concern...and what's happening in 17-, 23-. 45- and 53- Across?: CLIMATE CHANGE ("Global warming" fits, as well...and gave me fits, until I corrected it with the perps !!).

Very unusual grid design, so let's look at what it holds...

Across:

1.Blood typing system : ABO. Right off the bat, a clue I can relate to! I am A+. Do you know your blood type? And 37D. Rare blood type: Abbr. : A NEG

4.Sea once dotted with 1,500-plus islands : ARAL.

8.Some winds : REEDS

13.Prince, to Cecil Fielder : SON...OK, C.C., you got me here. I was thinking of the singer "Prince", who was born to John Nelson (so, was he a nephew of Cecil?... maybe a cousin??) But of course, this is a C.C.-Don G. collaboration, and I should have known that they were referring to the father of the Detroit Tigers first baseman "Prince" Fielder...

14.Discman maker : SONY

15.Name that means "pretty" : BONNIE. Is she bonnie?

16.Topeka-to-St. Paul direction : NNE

19.Morales of "Jericho" : ESAI

21.Exude : OOZE

22.Ryder Cup team : USA. The other team is Europe. The players compete for no money, just for the victory!

27.Hazardous current : RIP. R.I.P. anyone who dares venture into such a current!

28.Stick on a stake : IMPALE. Maybe I can give you a better visual if you just picture a marshmallow being toasted on a stake...

29.Bog : MIRE

30.Unfair wear? : RAIN HAT. In weather that's not fair, in order to save your hair!

34.Literary miscellanea : ANAS

38.Sound of pain or pleasure : MOAN. OK, I won't go DF here...

39.Satisfied : CONTENT (...moan)

40.___ above : A CUT

41.Don's code : OMERTA. The so-called "code of silence" in the Sicilian Mafia.

44.Sharp-toothed fish : GAR. Fish with long jaws, filled with long sharp teeth.

50.Curling venue : ICE. The game of "curling". I wanted something to do with a salon or spa...

51.Frizzy do : AFRO. Now, that's curly!

52.Peel : PARE

58.London-born miler : COE. Runner Sebastian.

59.Olds models : ALEROS

60.Birthright seller : ESAU. For a bowl of stew...

61.Tease : KID

62.Works at the docks, say : LADES

63.Email folder : SENT

64.Hovel : STY

Down:
1. Comparably fresh : AS NEW...as a daisy?

2. Tree in a tray : BONSAI

3. Like macho push-ups : ONE ARM. Not to be confused with these bandits...

4. Lenten symbol : ASH. The first day of lent is Ash Wednesday, for Catholics. Coming up on February 22.

5. Short hopper : ROO. Short for "kangaroo", not that we are referring to their diminutive stature!

6. Scout on the floor, perhaps : ANT. Thank goodness, ant season is over (for now) here in New England. (From C.C.: Hi there Ant. For you: Waiting to bat/the hitter swats/a swarm of gnats)

7. It helps you clean up : LYSOL. I'd rather have a maid, thank you.

8. Where Monet's cathedral series was painted : ROUEN. One of my favorite series. Just look at the different nuances in light and texture!

9. Commercial development done in one hr.? : ENL. Oh, photo development! Enlargement: "hr." is the abbreviation hint.

10. Permanent : ENDURING

11. Judgement day poem : DIES IRAE. If you really want to hear the words, go here. If you just want to have fun, go here.

12. Colorful shawls : SERAPES

15. Clod : BOZO. Predecessor to Ronald McDonal?

18. ___ polloi : HOI. From Greek, meaning "the many"

20. Evidence in a rug : IMPRINT. Oh, not burns?

24. Polite address : MA'AM

25. Like a pelvic artery : ILIAC

26. Slow, to Yo-Yo : LENTO. Yo-Yo Ma, world-famous conductor. His paternal ancestry can be traced back eighteen generations to the year 1217. (Update: I meant to say "cellist", not conductor!)

29. Femme fatale : MAN TRAP.

31. Layer : HEN. Cute clue!

32. Player : ACTOR

33. Amusement park focus : THEME.

35. Minute Maid parent company : COCA COLA

36. Adorned with a wreath : LAURELED

38. Like a charm, maybe : MAGICAL

42. Evidence in the snow : TRACKS. I love looking out my kitchen window after a snowstorm, and seeing the rabbit tracks across the back yard.

43. Skillful : ADROIT

45. Guitar tone changers : CAPOS. This was the style that my old pal Pat and I used in the '60s:

46. "Just the Two ___":1981 hit : OF US. Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton. Sighhh...if I have to. Here is the hit song from their album. Oh wait, the clue referred to the 1981 hit. Hmmm, that would be "More Than Just the Two of Us" by Sneaker?? (Ahhh, that's more like it!)

47. Immortal among hockey defensemen : ORR. Boston Bruin and crossword immortal.

48. Wins the battle of the bulge, ironically : LOSES

49. Five-star opposite? : SEEDY. HaHa, funny clue!

54. Rap's Dr. ___ : DRE. I'll let Len go there...

55. "What's the ___?" : USE

56. Author Fleming : IAN

57. "For shame!" : TUT. Tut, tut...don't tell me you didn't finish this one? (It's no shame-it was definitely a Thursday challenge!!)

Answer grid.

Happy Ground Hog Day, everyone!

Hugs,

Marti

Constructors’ note from C.C.:

"I thought it would be fun to replace COLD, COOL, WARM & HOT in 2-word phrases with their opposites and have CLIMATE CHANGE as a unifier. CLIMATE CHANGE has 13 letters, tough to place in the end when we have 5 theme entries. So Don and I decided to put it in the middle and have other theme entries in descending degrees with warmth."