Sunday September 15, 2013 Amy Johnson

Theme: "No-win Situations" - All possible combinations of letters XXO (except XXX & OOO) are hidden in each theme entry.

 

23A. Wonka's starting hockey team? : SIX OOMPA LOOMPAS. Oompa-Loompas work for Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. Six player on ice during a hockey game.

37A. Much "Sanford and Son" banter? : REDD FOXX ONE- LINERS

66A. Rockport knockoffs? : FAUX OXFORDS. Maybe Famous Footwear has Rockport. Never paid attention to that brand before.

96A. Rusty, the Iron Man? : SUPERHERO OXYMORON. Funny clue.

16D. Artistic place for tiny letters? : MAILBOX ORIGAMI

50D. Non-conforming Marvel mutants? : UNORTHODOX X-MEN

Reveal entry:

116A. Three-letter combinations hidden in this puzzle's six other longest answers : TIC TAC TOE LOSERS

Amy covers all the possible 6 arrangements, correct? X'es are tricky to deal with in filling, she had 10 of them!

Across:

1. Casserole holders : MITTS

6. Flood barrier : DIKE

10. Santa __, aka "devil winds" : ANAs

14. Tut's home, now : TOMB

18. Online payment : E-CASH

19. OS X basis : UNIX. Mac OS X.

20. Guns : REVs

21. At full throttle : AMAIN

26. Say "I do" : UNITE

27. 2006 Verizon acquisition : MCI

28. Dutch pottery city : DELFT

29. Nonstick cookware brand : T-FAL.  Great quality.

30. Clown's props : STILTS

31. Early philosophical hot spot : ELEA. I know this place only as  Zeno of Elea. He's a philosopher, so it could be a hot spot. MN is a hot spot for crosswords. George Barany told me that  "...Will said that besides New York and California, there is no other state with such a concentration of constructing talent (maybe he forgot about Maryland?)".

33. Island gift : LEI

34. Home of the Green Wave : TULANE

36. Civil War nickname : ABE

42. Eugene's st. : ORE

44. Cousin of a bald eagle : ERN

45. Bygone TV knob : HOR

46. High points : CLIMAXES

48. Grammy winner Cole : PAULA. "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?"

51. Alley cries : MEOWs

53. Org. with Pirates and Sharks : AHL. No idea. American Hockey League.

54. Black hues, to Chaucer : EBONs

55. Traditional fourth-anniversary gift : LINEN. See here. Boomer and I will celebrate our 13th year next May.

56. Fed. workplace monitor : OSHA

57. Hot state : IRE

58. Bob or bowl : HAIRDO

59. Game with Skip cards : UNO

60. Hawaii's coffee capital : KONA

62. Half the taijitu symbol : YANG

64. "__ Went Mad": Riley poem : ERE I

65. Cellists' sect. : STR (String)

70. Styling stuff : GEL

73. Us opponents : THEM

76. Certain slip-on : MULE. Shoes.

77. Catch some rays : BASK

79. Crest letters : ADA

80. Like sailors on leave : ASHORE. I wanted something drunk related. Sorry, Spitzboov/D-Otto!

82. Lucrative : FAT. OK, a fat year.

83. Epitome of thinness : RAIL

85. High points : ACMES

87. Polynesian language : MAORI. I think Steve used this image last time. Stick your tongue out. How low can you go?

88. ABO designation : POS (Positive)

89. High : TIPSY

90. Venerated one : SAINT

91. Skating on thin ice : IN DANGER

93. Holiday chuckles : HOs. Santa!

94. 21st, e.g.: Abbr. : CEN

95. Tokugawa shogunate seat of power : EDO

104. Scripts that may be hard to read : RXS

106. Part of ASAP : AS SOON. One 6-letter partial is OK.

107. Old-fashioned show of affection: Abbr. : LTR. My sister-in-law Barbara always writes us letters.

108. Project Mercury org. : NASA

109. Actress Meredith __-Birney : BAXTER

111. Coll. major involving an observatory : ASTR (Astronomy)

112. Calligrapher's line : SERIF

114. Rotation meas. : RPS (Revolutions per Second)

115. Skilled pitchers : ADMEN. Not baseball.

119. Hardly certain : LEERY

120. Natural soother : ALOE

121. Bengay, e.g. : BALM. This might work if you have mild arthritis pain or muscle pain. You local Asian store should have them. The stuff stinks though.

122. "Have a look!" : GO SEE

123. Lombardy Castle city : ENNA. In Sicily. Splynter might know Lombardy Castle. Not me.

124. Surfer, perhaps : USER. Internet surfer.

125. Old dagger : SNEE

126. Mythical lover of wine and women : SATYR

Down:

1. "Animal magnetism" coiner : MESMER. He gave us "Mesmerize".

2. Frozen drip : ICICLE

3. Rolled on a runway : TAXIED

4. Menu general : TSO. Chicken.

5. Sporting heels : SHOD

6. Two-floor apartment : DUPLEX

7. Up the creek : IN A FIX

8. Highland wear : KILT

9. Skeletal prefix : EXO. "Outer".

10. Carrying limit : ARMFUL

11. Himalayan native : NEPALI. Sherpa's life is actually very hard.

12. Ski area concern : AVALANCHE. Sherpas encounter this often.

13. Snake's "Back off!" : SSS

14. Ready to snap : TAUT

15. __ vincit amor : OMNIA. Do you believe in "Love conquers all"?

17. What some fight to, with "the" : BITTER END

22. Video game console : NES

24. Cantaloupe, e.g. : MELON

25. Aquatic rompers : OTTERS

30. Pak of the LPGA : SE RI. She opened the door for all those Korean LPGA players. 

32. Mr. Rochester's ward : ADELE. Jane Eyre.

35. "Gimme a Break!" star Carter : NELL. And 49. "__ Misbehavin'" : AIN'T

38. Ballpark buy : FRANK

39. "This could be a problem" : OH OH

40. Trouble for the hopelessly trapped : NO WAY OUT

41. Nasty race tactic : SMEAR

43. Manitoba pump sign : ESSO

47. Irish Rose's guy : ABIE. Learned from doing Xwords.

48. Grade refinement : PLUS

51. "__ Lisa" : MONA

52. Biblical barterer : ESAU

53. Ship protected by Hera : ARGO. Otherwise, no woman on that ship.

57. Lower-ranking : INFERIOR

58. Company with toy trucks : HESS

61. "All __": 1984 film : OF ME

63. Rocker Rose : AXL

67. Adman's yuletide : XMAS

68. Aaron's MLB record 2,297 : RBIs

69. Longtime "What's My Line?" host : DALY (John). I should borrow Splynter's BMT (Before My Time).

71. Original sin site : EDEN

72. __ resort : LAST

74. Israeli folk dance : HORA

75. Actress Moran et al. : ERINs

78. "Casey's Top 40" host : KASEM

80. French girlfriend : AMIE

81. 1959 Gidget player : SANDRA DEE. Hey, a full name.

82. Jibs, e.g. : FORESAILS

84. Lhasa __ : APSO

86. Church law : CANON

88. Spices (up) : PEPS

89. Powerful D.C. lobby : THE NRA

92. __ gum: thickening agent : GUAR

94. Ritchard who played Hook on Broadway : CYRIL. Stranger to me. Captain Hook. Wiki said he was born in Australia. Not Russia as I thought.

97. Gun, in old slang : ROSCOE. I forgot. But we had this clue before.

98. More spicy : HOTTER

99. Soccer stadium shout : OLE OLE

100. Limit-pushing, in adspeak : XTREME. The bowling center in Treasure Island is called Island Xtreme Bowl.

101. Most limited : RAREST

102. Fish-eating hawk : OSPREY

103. 1952 Egyptian Revolution leader : NASSER. The guy who's in control now is General Sisi. No government can survive in Egypt without the military backing. Morsi is a good example.

105. Tough : STERN

109. Statement no. : BAL (Balance)

110. Mononymous New Ager : ENYA

112. Asian country suffix : STAN. Meaning "Land".

113. London forecasts : FOGS

116. Sigma follower : TAU

117. Letters next to an eye : CBS. Great clue.

118. "__ man walks into ..." : SO A

I mentioned last week that George Barany (The genius behind the Alan Turing tribute puzzle)  & Friends made the fun puzzle inside the program for "An Evening with the Puzzle Master". Everyone was busy solving the grid while waiting for Will to start the presentation.

George kindly provided me with the puz file. I thought you might enjoy it. You don't have to be an Minnesotan to solve the grid. 

Click here for the PDF file. Click here for the puz file. 

 

Spoiler alert:

Click here to read how the puzzle was created & George's thoughts on several entries. I bet TTP & PA Don enjoyed reading his remark on 51-Down. There is also a great picture of the MN constructors with Will Shortz at the bottom. 

C.C.

Saturday, Sep 14th, 2013, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie

Words: 72 (missing J,X,Z)

Blocks: 30

    Well it was about time I got beaten up by a Silkie ( or any ) puzzle, and it's no surprise that it comes on "Saturday, the 14th"; typically, I fare worse in "luck" today than on Friday, the 13th.  Mr. Silk got me with too many proper names; people places AND things.  One grid climber today:

7. Collective feeling of oppression : BUNKER MENTALITY

and two 11's crossing two 12's;

3D. Hunter with a distinctive cry : SCREECH OWL

 

22A. Special screening : SNEAK PREVIEW - I tried PREMIERE SHOW, which fit - it's what we called the viewing of the made-for-TV movie we did in 1997 for cast and crew only

46A. Where funnels are often seen : TORNADO ALLEY - Funny, but my brother tells me after hockey this past Wed. that he is planning on going as the Tin Man for Halloween - so I was thinking that a funnel would be 'seen' on the head

 

....anyway, this crossed another weather-related phrase;

28D. It may precede a cold front : SQUALL LINE - Thunderstorm, which is two letters too long, so I couldn't make it fit, but there's three "L"s in a line~! My friend Matt from high school wanted to be a weatherman since the day I met him, and he succeeded - clip

...and upward~! acrosswards and downwards~!

stop by the Corner to check on your answer(d)s

ACROSS:

1. __ shirt : MUSCLE - yeah, this took a while, since I don't own one

7. Catholic pilgrimage destination : BASILICA - was looking for a city with a proper name, like "VATICAN"

15. Written to last : ETCHED - A lot of people have been asking about the new UPS driving position, and all I have been able to say is "...so far, nothing is carved in stone" - I'm thinking about starting a blog when I do go - call it "Driving Brown"

16. Member of DC Comics' Legion of Super-Heroes : ULTRA BOY - yeah, um, didn't know about him - I had SUPERMAN, then SUPERBOY, and (ahem) ULT-imately, ULTRA BOY

17. Coliseum team, once : L.A. RAMS - 'round here, Coliseum means Nassau, and the NY Islanders hockey team - NHL training camps have begun~!

18. March Madness event : NCAA GAME - Basketball; interferes with my hockey viewing

19. What busy people are on? : THE GO - "always on the go..."

20. WBA decisions : TKOs - Technical Knock-outs

21. Dos' followers : REs - Musical scale

26. Trauma sufferer's goal : CLOSURE - good clue; took me a while

27. Yellowstone grazer : BISON

31. Comic who wrote jokes for Kennedy : SAHL - Nope, not a clue - BMT ( Before My Time )

33. Start of a response to a brainteaser : Hmm.... - what else is Mr. Silk going to get me with?

34. Language "jai alai" comes from : BASQUE - well, here's one that got me

35. Latin 101 word : AMO - Orthorunica amo - "I love crosswords"

36. Jersey Shore resort : CAPE MAY

38. Nautilus letters : U.S.S. - two weeks in a row with this answer

39. Show deference : KOWTOW - I spelled it wrong, went with a "C"; it must be late....

41. 7 and 11: Abbr. : NOs - numbers, deceptively simple

42. Stuffing material : BATT

43. Mullah's faith : ISLAM

44. Regular guest on "The O'Reilly Factor" : STOSSEL - John; I have not seen him since his days on Ch. 7 here in NYC

50. Spot at the bridge table : PIP - on the non-face cards; learning moment for me

53. Slick : OILY

54. Its capital is Valletta : MALTA - OK, OK, I cheated, and Googled this one

55. Big name in racing : ANDRETTI - I got this one

58. "Turn Me Loose" singer, 1959 : FABIAN - and then I was back to Google - BMT

59. Cut across : TRANSECT

60. Double-edged : IRONIC

61. 1980 hit with the line "I longed to speak but did not dare" : HE'S SO SHY - The Pointer Sisters, and this IS my time - I grew up with the video on MTV, when it was a video showing channel

62. Just : BARELY - I had LIE for FIB, so I thought EVENLY was good here - Bzzzt~!

DOWN:

1. Softens : MELTS

2. Pioneer Day celebrant : UTAHN - seen this before; one from UTAH

4. 1963-'64 painter of the Paris Opera ceiling : CHAGALL

5. 1937 title gangster Pépé : le MOKO - I bet Mr. Silk is glad there's names like this one out there for crossword construction

6. Life support syst.? : EDs - Editors of Life magazine

8. Recess : ALCOVE

9. East German secret police : STASI

10. Portfolio element : IRA - retirement portfolio

11. Fail to keep up : LAG

12. Structural beam : I-BAR

13. Canine order : COME - OK, I gotta link this - adult content~!

14. Some votes : AYES

20. Ranking suit : TRUMP

23. "Bah!" : "PSHAW~!"

24. Selling point? : eBAY and; 48D. Net biz : ETAIL

25. Ill. neighbor : WISconsin; I almost decided to take the train to go to the Will Shortz presentation this past Thursday, but my supervisor screwed me out of my vacation.  I had a hockey game on Wed., too, so....maybe I visit C.C. this winter?

29. Kick out : OUST

30. Emulate bees : NEST - meh, but I was not fooled with "BUZZ", as I had USS crossing earlier

31. "The Storyteller" storyteller : SAKI - another proper name, crossing SAHL, that did me in - some Wiki

32. Book by a prophet : AMOS - and another

34. Low man : BASSO - low vocal man

36. Interrogación word : COMO - I know ¿Cómo estás?, "How are you?", and depending on WHO is asking, I might consider it to be an interrogation....

37. Hardly chipper : MOODY

40. Use a shuttle : TAT - I was on this wavelength, and started with SEW; TAT, back-formed from Tatting, to make a kind of knotted lace of cotton or linen thread with a shuttle.

42. Over-explain : BELABOR

44. Rat : SNITCH

45. City on the Volga : SAMARA - another proper name that got me

47. Basic teaching techniques : ROTES - gritting my teeth on this one

49. '50s TV adventurer __ Derringer : YANCY

50. Way : PATH

51. Dictator's phrase : IN RE - Also Latin, "in the matter of"

52. Modern info holders : PDAs - I tried DVDs first.  I went for a test drive in the new Dodge Dart, and the CD player is in the center arm rest, along with the mp3 jack; I remember when an anti-theft pull-out cassette deck AM/FM radio was THE most advanced auto audio you could buy

56. BP checkers : RNs - Blood Pressure, and Registered Nurses

57. That, in Tijuana : ESO

58. Bit of fiction : FIB - ah, not LIE

 Splynter