Saturday, Nov 3rd, 2012, Brad Wilber

Theme: None

Words: 68

Blocks: 29

  Always a pleasure when I get a puzzle such as this one, where little by slowly, the pieces fall in to place, and I get that satisfied feeling of having successfully tackled another Saturday crossword.  Mr. Wilber offers us FOUR grid spanners double-stacked today:

15. Solution for repairing snagged nylons : CLEAR NAIL POLISH - I have heard this, and you all know me, so I have to offer up a picture of some nylons~!

17. Fitness-focused parent's purchase : JOGGING STROLLER - this thing

  

44. Spider web's abundance : TENSILE STRENGTH - the ability to bend and return to its original position; it's why steel, also high in tensile strength, is used to reinforce concrete, which is high in compression strength - I'm getting into 37D.

47. Fail to get caught : ESCAPE ATTENTION - no LIPA truck escapes attention right now; we all stood out in the street and watched the guy re-rig the power lines and give us the magic juice back.  Now Long Island has almost NO gasoline at all; coming home tonight, 1am, ONE of about 12 stations I passed had gas, and the headlights were lined up as far as the eye could see; the police monitored the entrances to make sure no one was cutting in

Aaaawnward~!

ACROSS:

1. "An almond in every bite" candy : MARS BAR

8. Magic Johnson's 10,141 : ASSISTS - not a basketball guy, no slam-dunk for me; had to wait until some downs could 'assist' me on this one

18. Rueful exclamation : OH GEE

19. Ecstatic hymn : PAEAN

20. 1950s Reds nickname : KLU - this guy: more from our illustrious baseball blogger, C.C. (From C.C.: I remember we had some blog discussions about Big Klu, searched the blog and had fun reading these comments from two years ago. Creature, Clear Ayes, EddyB (Still in his self-imposed exile days, posting as Dilbert @ 12:32pm, were all there. Creature still solves the puzzle and reads the blog every day, hopefully she'll post regularly once she sells the farm and her life is more settled.)

21. "The Whiffenpoof Song" sound effects : BAAS - sounds like an earworm to me....there's plenty of music to go around in this puzzle

22. Jersey's environs : DAIRY - Jersey cows; moo.

23. Matching : TWIN

24. Paris-to-Vichy dir. : SSE - yeah, uh, I don't make this trip too often; I know the answers are limited to S, N, E and W

25. Post-larval insects : PUPAS - not PUPAE

26. Item with which Osiris is usually pictured : CROOK

27. Clinton's FBI director : FREEH - the Wiki

28. It can have a tail but never legs : SHIRT

29. __ House: Pennsylvania Ave. guest quarters : BLAIR - more here

30. Blowout substitute? : B-TEAM - Sporting blow-out, when one team dominates the competition; sort of like the Dream Team of the US Olympic Basketball team - which I still know nothing about....

31. Cut-up : CLOWN - Not SAAWN - the cut-up with antics

32. Be a Scrooge : HOARD

33. Cassidy who played a Hardy Boy : SHAUN - yeah, grew up with this show

34. Knighted mystery writer who championed the Boer War : DOYLE

35. Enter the pool : BET - the gambling pool, that is

38. Sultry "Mink, Shmink" singer : KITT - Eartha Kitt

39. Coppers in London : PENCE - because POLICE didn't fit

40. Assembled : MADE - So simple, it was hard

41. Ducks' home, on the ticker : ANAheim, one of the NHL's California hockey teams; EddyB was a San Jose Sharks fan; there's also the Stanley Cup champion LA Kings - NONE of whom will be playing anytime soon....greedy bastards

42. Event where lumberjacks get wet : ROLEO

43. Spock specialty : LOGIC - fascinating, captain

48. Red fox of medieval lore : REYNARD - ah, tried MAYNARD first; he's the guy who owned the pawn shop in Pulp Fiction

49. 1993 Kentucky Derby winner sired by Polish Navy : SEA HERO

DOWN:
   
1. They're often filled with teens : McJOBS - My first job, not a common one as the name here implies, was at Grossman's lumber - home office was in Braintree Mass, not far from BarryG

2. Some hellos ... and goodbyes : ALOHAS

3. Marley's music : REGGAE - Bob Marley, link away ~!!!

4. Gurus : SAGES

5. Some French wheels : BRIE - Cheese wheels

6. Novelist Beattie : ANN

7. Incongruous-sounding high-end stationery : RAG PAPER - I had PUPAE, so the "P" gave me a hint that ---PAPER might be the answer

8. Tweaks, say : ALTERS

9. Surf feature : SPRAY - not CREST

10. Directly : SOON - not ASAP, or ANON

11. Down with something : ILL

12. Source of soft fabric : SILKWORM

13. "The Hollow Men" poet : T.S. ELIOT - our poetry person has passed; who will take up the torch - YR?

14. Dwindled : SHRUNK - ah, not shrAnk

16. Old Testament prophet : ISAIAH

22. Expected to land : DUE IN

23. Basic chord : TRIAD - three notes; "power chords" from just about all hard rock/heavy metal songs are triads - these guys were masters at it

25. Tasty crustacean : PRAWN - reminds me of District 9; we've discussed this before

26. Beloved, in Bordeaux : CHERE - ah, not cherI

27. Thumb one's nose at : FLOUT

28. Shopworn : STALE

29. Glaring quality : BLATANCY

30. Stops patronizing : BOYCOTTS - I read this as the 'other' patronizing - being obnoxiously polite

31. Like many a 12-Down : CHINESE

32. Forthcoming : HONEST

33. Button, notably : SKATER - Dick Button, here

34. Remove element #82 from : DE-LEAD - get the LED out - I was jamming this at Mike's by the fire tonight

35. Hefty product : BAGGIE - Hefty, the brand name, that is - didn't fool me

36. One working on drafts : EDITOR

37. Prefix with babble : TECHNO - when someone tries to explain how a wastegate works on a turbo, they might get into "techno-babble"

39. Gondolier, e.g. : POLER

40. Number before a slash, maybe : MONTH - as in 11/03/12

42. Strahan co-host : RIPA - Kelly and Michael of "Live with_"

43. Hyena in "L'il Abner" : LENA

45. Japanese surname addition : SAN

46. Mr. __!: old whodunit game : REE - get it?  Mr. Ree - mystery~!

Splynter

 Note from C.C.:

The Saturday Stud keeps his blogging streak alive! Splynter has never missed a post since he started his regular Saturday blogging on May 21, 2011 (He guest-blogged a few more Saturdays & Wednesdays before that).

Friday, November 2, 2012, Gail Grabowski

THEME: "IN URE FACE!"

In the two across theme answers,  the letters URE are added to the last word of a familiar two word phrase; in the two down clues, they are added to the end of the first word. If you are like me, you have always had trouble distinguishing INURE from ENURE. Anyway, Gail is a very prolific constructor both by herself and with others, with her LAT output way over 100. Here is one of C.C.'s early INTERVIEWS. I found this to be a simple theme and puzzle, with some of her classic style showing through and maybe a couple of nits to pick;  let's plunge.

17A. Stallone’s garden supply?: MACHO MANURE. (11) I bet this was the seed entry as the juxtaposition of a Macho Man being full of.. well, I guess I can say "manure" is a great visual. 

56A. Santa’s risky undertaking?: ROOF VENTURE. (11) A nice shout out to our dear workhorse Argyle, as a simple Vent in a Roof almost becomes an adventure.

11D. Movie about artificially grown bacteria?: CULTURE FILM.  (11). Nice cross discipline clue with the chemistry lab mixing with cult films to give us some high brow entertainment.

25D. Fast-talking salesman’s training materials?: PRESSURE KIT. (11). From high brow to high pressure, and with the campaign raging and the media in a frenzy looking for something to write when they get their press kit, this is timely.

ACROSS:

1. Bright-eyed: ALERT. Not bushy tailed.

6. Student of Socrates: PLATO. SPA being the acronym to remember the order of teacher and student of the big three in Greek philosophy. 

11. “The Mentalist” network: CBS. I really hope they get rid of the Red John crap finally, now that we saw his face, and just have a fun mystery show.

14. Cut over: RE-SAW. Well, if you were going to saw a log, that would not be the same as

15. Get ready to surf: LOG ON. Surfing the web not the ocean.

16. Last word?: Abbr.: ULTimate. 

19. Halifax head: LOO. The British influenced Canadian province, where you do not go to a bathroom or a rest room.

20. Lively dance: CONGA. I linked this dance a few weeks a go. Not to be confused with another lively dance, 32D. Hand-holding group dance: HORA. Can you do THIS. (1:38).

21. Cage, for one: ACTOR. Nicholas who is born a Coppola.

23. Movie theater appliances: POPPERS.  Did we like the MOVIE? (2:30).

27. Casually mention, with “to”: ALLUDE.

28. Sacred structure: SHRINE. 

29. Buck: DOLLAR. Our homage to marti's buccaneer pun from last Friday.

31. Influential sports figure: AGENT.  Show me the MONEY.(2:30).

32. Brewery flavoring: HOPS.  A shout out to my brewer boys.  The key to the beer.

33. Beginning to cure?: PEDI. NIT number one, I like the clue but not in this puzzle; marti? Jerome? SJSJ? Gareth? C.C.?

36. French article: LES. Means The, plural masculine.

37. Lacking: SHORT OF. Oh, now we have to stoop to short JOKES. (2:11)

40. To benefit: FOR. See ENURE.

41. Cubs’ spring training city: MESA.

43. Prominent periods: ERAS. Add an "E" and you have 63A. Eliminate: ERASE.

44. Cádiz cohort: AMIGO.  Notice the similarity of Spanish to French for the word friend, here you add GO but do not collect $200.00. 

46. Post office flier: US FLAG. Wonderful visual clue.

48. Allied leader: STALIN. Tricked you with that one as Joe was one of the big boys in WWII.

49. “Gave it my best”: I TRIED.

51. News source since Dec. 1881: LA TIMES. I love these inside references, but we need to remember this.

52. Musical inadequacy: NO EAR. My choir teacher insisted I lip sync because not only was I bad, I made everyone around me bad. He said I was tone deaf and pitch black.

53. Feudal lord: LIEGE. As an aside, the term HOMAGE comes from the ceremony whereby fealty was pledged to the Lord.

55. Wine flavoring: OAK. From the casket, I presume, not ground up and put in a blender with the grapes.

62. First name in dictators: IDI. Amin, we are sick of hearing about this guy. I really min it.

64 Ryder rival: U-HAUL. We used Penske to move my son.

65. WWII carrier: LST. Landing Ship, Tank. They were built to immediately off load on a beach.

66. Domingo, e.g.: TENOR. What a VOICE. (3:18) I love the Spanish sub-titles.

67. Hides: PELTS. Another classic misdirection. Animal hides not a hiding animal.

DOWN:

1. Hand holder?: ARM. I really like this misdirection, took me a while to finger it out.

2. Rural expanse: LEA. Also can be called a PASTURE.

3 Changed-my mind key: ESC. For me it is the DEL key. 

4. Encouraging word: RAH. Rah ree, kick 'em in the knee, rah rah rass, kick 'em in the other knee.

5. Unsolicited opinion: TWO CENTS. You think after all these years of inflation, we might have to put our two dollars worth in the conversation?

6. Doesn’t wing it: PLANS. Like all good Corner bloggers, right Argyle, melissa, marti....

7. Like a boring lecture, probably: LONG. Or at least they seem long, right D.T.?

8. Río contents: AGUA. Rio is river, agua is water.

9 A.L. East team, on scoreboards: TORonto. The Blue Jays of baseball.

10. Low tie: ONE ALL. This was harder to see than it should have been. 1-1.

12. Lineage: BLOOD. Blood of my blood; this reminds me of the great love story of DAENERYS & DROGO (2:29) (r-rated).

18. Seconds: MORE. Mommy I want more! So, we have 39D. Add some meat to: FATTEN UP. C'mon eat up, we have to put some meat on those bones.

22. Storm harbinger: CLAP. I had this fill from the perps, and my first thought made no sense, then I realized she meant of Thunder.

23. Old Testament poem: PSALM.

24. Wistful remark: OH GEE. Not to be confused with the CW staple OGEE.

26. Jewelry item: PIN. Do college boys still "pin" their sweethearts? I did not mean to the mat....

27. To boot: ALSO. Is this a regional PHRASE? 

29. Dome cover: DO RAG. Ah, the dome as head, like in chrome dome.

30. Drops (out): OPTS.

34. Oater orphan: DOGIE. Remember all those lost little motherless calfs (calves?) from the 50's westerns. 

35. Mashie and niblick: IRONS. Old names for golf clubs, the woods were Brassies and Spoons; not like 57D. Source of iron: ORE. 

38. Decided in court: HELD. Welllll, it is more complicated than that, but a judge's ruling is a holding.

42. Kolkata’s locale: ASIA. We just had this spelling of Calcutta earlier in the week.

45. Avril follower: MAI. No not LAVIGNE, simply April and May in French. 

47. Polecat kin: FERRET. I was not aware of this, but the perps helped me ferret out the answer.

48.  Saltimbocca herb: SAGE.  Jumps in the mouth in Italian (Bocca like boca raton in French it is Bouche). The RECIPE.

49. How much sautéing is done: IN OIL. Apparently we have reached the cooking part of the puzzle as the recipe requires sautéing the veal in oil.

50 Warty amphibians: TOADS. For all the ladies who have kissed one to find her prince:

And then, after:

 51. Subject for Archimedes: LEVER.  "Give me a place to stand and with a lever I will move the whole world." More GREEK today.

53. Buyer’s aid: LOAN. Which often can lead to foreclosure.

54. “Based on that ...”: IF SO.

58 With 13-Down, errand runner’s destination: THE. 13. See 58-Down: STORE.

59 2002 Chapter 11-filing flier: UAL. United Airlines. Why a 2002 one? Then again, why 61 D. 2002 British Open champ: ELS, who also won the Open (no need to say British Open) in 2012.

60 Track: RUT.  They were made by the wagon wheels in the old westerns. Well, I guess I may be in a rut but it lead to the end of the write up, so I guess it is time to pack my wagon and hit the trail, my first write up as a grandfather; thank you all for the kind words and thoughts and C.C. for helping me share my joy. 

Notes from C.C.:

1) Final installment of JD's Italy trip: Pompeii and Sorrento. Click here for more pictures. Thanks for sharing with us your trip, JD.

2) Splynter is safe and sound. He got power back late yesterday afternoon. Welcome back, Yellowrocks! Now we need Dave to show up.