Sunday, December 28, 2014, C.C. Burnikel

Theme: "The Sixth Sense"-  I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 8.... 

Today I get to ESPouse some comments on this ESPecially fun puzzle by our Extra Special Puzzlemistress C.C.!

ESP Testing in Ghostbusters. Remember which subject did well?

Seeing SPIRIT and SPEED early sent me down a blind theme alley but then I saw the very clever ESP grouping split between two words as either ...E SP... or ...ES P... Seven Across and two Down. Coupled with her always fun cluing made for an enjoyable time on this last Sunday of 2014.

Theme Answers:

23A. Nonconformist : FREE SPIRIT 

33A. Roadwork warning : REDUCE SPEED

45A. Candy that comes in three colors : REESES PIECES - E.T's favorite!

70A. X Games pursuits : EXTREME SPORTS - Knock yourself out! Probably will.

89A. Position held three times by Henry Clay : HOUSE SPEAKER - LBJ knocked heads together and got more things done than as VP.

103A. Athlete's setback : ANKLE SPRAIN 

117A. Pledge drive talk, essentially : SALES PITCH - Like during this fabulous show

15D. Colorado Gold Rush area : PIKES PEAK - The temp dropped 50˚F as we rode the Cog R.R. to the top

80D. Polite acceptance : YES PLEASE

...and the Reveal:

97D. One with the ability hidden in nine puzzle answers : PSYCHIC - The reveal! How come they aren't  getting rich by betting on football or playing the lottery?

Across

1. Holed, as a putt : SANK - "It's in the hole!" Caddyshack 

5. Gives and takes : SWAPS 

10. Unlit : SOBER - Clever. 

15. Showy display ; POMP - Hey, whatever floats your boat...

19. Neat as : A PIN - A wifely trait that my daughter's didn't get 

20. ____ firma : TERRA - Some of California's TERRA sometimes is not so firma 

21. Butt (in) : CHIME 

22. Google Nexus competitor : iPAD 

25. Predecessor of Begin : RABIN 

26. Superman's cover : KENT - Really? The glasses and the curl fooled you?

27. Choice cut : FILET

28. Went for a seat : RAN - My best friend's son ran for and now has a seat in the U.S. Senate

29. British aristocrat : EARL - My favorite contribution by an Earl

30. Get hot on Twitter : TREND

31. Longtime Guardian cartoonist Asquith : ROS 

37. Equally hot : AS MAD

39. Rosemary relative : OREGANO

41. Tolkien forest giant : ENT - We might as well learn it. It's not going away

42. "Moneyball" Oscar nominee : BRAD PITT

44. Boneheads : NINNIES 

48. "Gimme __!": start of a Rutgers cheer : AN R 

49. "10538 Overture" band : ELO

51. Good buddy : PAL 

52. HDTV brand : RCA - Now made by S. Korean Company, On Corp,  in China

53. Pulls a fast one on : SNOWS - Can anyone say Bernie Madoff?

56. Don McLean song that begins "Starry, starry night" : VINCENT

58. Large spitz : AKITA - Built for when it 53A's

62. Parts of teacups : EARS - A tea connoisseur like C.C. would know

63. Central Utah city : OREM

65. Pomegranate color : RED - I only learned last week how to eat a Pomegranate

66. Dragon roll ingredient : EEL

68. Room to chill : DEN - Mine's my sunroom

69. Still undecided, briefly : TBA - Like times for televised college football games

73. Permitted : LET - In tennis LET serves are not permitted

74. Huge load : TON 

75. Uni, in sushi bars : ROE

76. You, to Goethe : SIE

77. Tax-sheltered accts. : IRAS - This is the time of year we wished they were Roth IRA's

78. They may be placed : BETS - A scene where the guy on the left BETS on 22 Black on Bogie's advice.

79. Delivery expert, briefly : OB/GYN - Leonard, "Raj you should be an OB/GYN like your dad". Raj, "My God Leonard, I can't even look a woman in the eye!"

81. Canal transport : GONDOLA

83. Forward : PUSHY

84. "Ich bin __ Berliner" : EIN - JFK gave Berlin hope 36 years before the wall came down

86. Has too much, briefly : ODS

87. Styling stuff : GEL - Yeah, it really works on you!

88. Pop holder : CAN - It was glass in my ute and I got 2 cents for returning them

94. Troop support mission : AIR DROP - These kept Berlin alive in '48 and '49. Update: The Berlin mission was an AIR LIFT. The planes landed in Berlin. Here is the story of Operation Little Vittles where candy was air dropped to the children. Argyle.

98. Looks for flaws in : INSPECTS - Did anyone ever get one of those bikini inspector jobs?

99. "The Royal Tenenbaums" director Anderson : WES

101. Eavesdrops, with "in" : LISTENS

102. Stretch : SPELL - Whether  is a bad SPELL of weather

107. Ottoman governor : BEY - Why do I think they weren't elected?

108. "You __ right!" : ARE SO

110. Olympian war god : ARES

111. Auction group : LOT

112. Stern with a bow : ISAAC - How cool is this clue?

114. South Pacific capital : APIA - Looks pretty good from the cold prairie in December

115. Tea grade : PEKOE

119. Brings together : WEDS

120. Revise, as text : EMEND - Certainly part of this process

121. Map fleck : ISLET

122. Spice Girl Halliwell : GERI

123. Hebrides tongue : ERSE

124. Fellas : DUDES

125. Insincere : PHONY

126. Teeny amt. of time : NSEC - Time it takes for the idiot behind me to honk his horn when the light turns green. .000000001 sec

Down:

1. Paella ingredient : SAFFRON - Who but Donovan has used this word in a song?

2. Existing independent of experience, in logic : A PRIORI - True by definition - All triangles have three sides? Yes. All tall people like basketball? Nope!

3. Eponymous market analyst : NIELSEN - We hated being a NIELSEN family

4. Joint where kids are welcome? : KNEE - even on artificial ones

5. Son of a Gun! vinyl protectant maker : STP

6. Oddballs : WEIRDOS - Big Bang is making Oddballs more mainstream

7. Pianist Claudio : ARRAU - No chance for me

8. Royal issue : PRINCE - There's probably one in the POMP picture above

9. Held court : SAT 

10. Junkyard metal : SCRAP - Watch out for that dog!

11. Midwest hub : O'HARE - a "gots to have" even when just connecting through O'HARE

12. Fundamentalist region : BIBLE BELT - I think I live in the buckle of that belt

13. Longtime Brit. music label : EMI

14. Second-home income, perhaps : RENT 

16. Feature of club nights for wannabes : OPEN MIC

17. Official order : MANDATE

18. Safeco Field summer hrs. : PDT - Beautiful home of the Seattle Mariners close to the Puget Sound

24. Stretches to the limit : STRAINS - cloth can just take so much

29. Where el sol rises : ESTE

31. Extremists : RADICALS - One man's radical is another's champion

34. Ernest Moniz's dept. : ENER - The present Secretary of Energy

35. 2001 scandal subject : ENRON - Substitute Kenneth Lay for Bernie Madoff from above

36. Who and No: Abbr. : DRS - or J or Dre

38. Rehab hurdle : DTS - My dad went through these

40. Chews (on) : GNAWS 

43. National Humor Mo. : APR

46. Blunted blades : EPEES - Could someone look up how often we've had this word in 2014?

47. Construction site sight : SANDPILE 

49. Continually : EVER -"ForEVER and EVER, Hallelujah, Hallelujah" are words in of one of the most beautiful vocal pieces ever penned

50. Citrus drink : LIME SODA - Usually Lemon/Lime

53. Squabble : SET-TO

54. Big wheel : NABOB - Would have remained in obscurity without Spiro Agnew needing alliteration with Nattering and Negativity

55. Borneo rainforest denizen : ORANG - My daughter's friend was told to stay behind the orange line when walking by the ORANG cages while working at the Omaha Zoo. They were smart, strong and had long arms.

57. Words to live by : CREED 

59. Wastes time : IDLES

60. Brush targets : TEETH - Joann tell the grandkids "It's time to tickle the ivories"

61. Fidgeting : ANTSY - Ever teach a Kindergarten class?

63. Good Grips kitchenware brand : OXO

64. Google Maps offering: Abbr. : RTE

66. Depression __ : ERA - That ERA left a lasting impression on most of our parents and grandparents

67. "The X-Files" extras : ETS -Spielberg had the one that liked REESE'S PIECES "phone home" in his movie

70. Two-time British Open champ : ERNIE ELS - It's said his swing is identical to Michelle Wie's. Not much else ;-)

71. Belarus capital : MINSK

72. __ exam : ORAL - Never had to take one

78. Cake pan trademark : BUNDT

81. Gets buff? : GOES NAKED

82. Role-playing game beasts : OGRES

83. Carrot cousin : PARSNIP - I've never crossed the path of this veggie

85. Pres. advisory team : NSC - JFK and the NSC said no to missiles in Cuba and Khrushchev blinked

88. DXV ÷ V : CIII - If the forum has DXV togas and V senators, how many does each get?

89. "To each __ own" : HIS - this song was #1 for three performers in my birth year

90. Hypothetically : ON PAPER - Where making this made sense

91. Handles for surfers : USER IDS

92. National org. with the slogan "everychild. onevoice" : PTA

93. "Babe" extras : EWES - Did they say their lines sheepishly?

94. Twelve Steps support group : ALA TEEN - Could'a used that growing up

95. Money-back lures : REBATES - Just take 'em off the price and save some paper

96. Plot size, perhaps : ONE ACRE

100. Make waves, in a way : SPLASH

104. Danish coin : KRONE

105. Victoria Quarter city : LEEDS - Third largest city in the UK. Been there, Steve?

106. Rich boy in "Nancy" comics : ROLLO - Richie Rich was in a different venue

109. Rebuttal piece, perhaps : OP-ED

113. Fire __ : SIGN - Ares, Leo and Sagittarius 

114. Leave wide-eyed : AWE

116. Feathered six-footer : EMU - Not that's a REAL Big Bird!

117. Nurse : SIP

118. Muddy home : STY

My ESP tells me I'd better get busy with my chores! Thanks for a lovely Sunday exercise, C.C., and all you do for us "Denizens Of The Puzzle"! 

Husker Gary

Saturday, Dec 27th, 2014, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie~!

Words: 70 (missing J,K,Q,X,Z)

Blocks: 32

  I figured we would be finishing up a year of Saturdays with a Silkie, and I expected it to be difficult at that - well, I was spot-on.  There was little to be had in the first pass of across and downs, but I managed to get a foothold in the SE, then crept my way up and left from there.  However, the top right was just not going to budge, and I am kicking myself for missing 7a. - oh well.  Yes, Red-Letter help today, and some of my fool-proof solving methods proved me a fool.  One 13-letter climber is all we have in lengthy fill:

15d. Group label further popularized by a 1991 self-named documentary : MTV GENERATION - I'm of the MTV Generation, but I did not actually have MTV growing up - we did not have cable, so I used to soak it up when I was at my friends' houses; one of the first videos I ever saw;

Men At Work

O - N - 2 - W - 0 - A - 1 - R - 5 - D~!

ACROSS:

1. 2014 high-tech release using the slogan "Bigger than bigger" : iPHONE - I am not an Apple person, though I did hear they're coming out with a fan to compete with the Dyson bladeless - it's called the iBLOW

7. 1987 sci-fi film : ROBO-COP - Dah~! I am SO disappointed with myself for not nailing this one - and I have not seen the remake yet, to boot

14. Pointer, perhaps : BLAMER - I was in a 'dog' frame of mind

15. Soften : MODULATE

16. Feeding trough : MANGER - yeah, this time of year, you tend to forget what its original purpose was for

17. Opinion : TWO CENTS - ugh - took too long to dawn on me, but clever - and a**hole was not long enough - because everybody has one

18. Qantas' main hub, in itineraries : SYDney - I knew what we were looking for, but I was not 100% sure it was that straight-up; for example, the code for MacArthur airport around the corner from me is ISP - because it's located in the town of Islip

19. Winner of the 1997 and 1998 Super Bowls : DENVER - I like that there are a limited number of answers for this type of clue, but I was a bit irked because it was not the team, like RAIDER or NINERS, but the city/location

21. Little shaver : TOT - dah~!! - I went with TAD first

22. DJ Alan Freed's nickname : MOONDOG - perps and WAGs

24. Seething : ABOIL

26. 14-Across' concern : FAULT

27. 1959 Bobby Rydell hit : WE GOT LOVE

30. Luncheon follower? : ETTE - LuncheonETTE

31. Concede : OWN UP TO

32. Pickle : MESS - the dilemma, not the dill

33. Meeting focus : THEME - Agenda wouldn't fit

34. Big name in lingerie : OLGA - new to me, I gotta go check out the website

38. Knight wear : TABARDS - I knew this because I want to add another "B" to the spelling; here I am wearing mine for a wedding

40. Hunny lover : POOH - the spelling here was a give-away; Winnie the honey-eating bear

41. Body exhibiting sudden increases in brightness : FLARE STAR - dah!! - I tried SUPERNOVA, which is "technically" correct. I was left with the "key" clue ( see below ) and a WAG at Blare, Glare, and Flare; guess which one I did not pick first....

44. Monterrey jack? : PESOS - Mexican "money"

45. Navigation acronym : SONAR - Once the ---AR was there, I filled in the rest - and then my clever 'solving short-cut' betrayed me; see below

46. Rose in a big way : TOWERED

48. O, at times : HUG - X O X O in cards; one of these days....

49. 1944 Pacific island battle site : SAIPAN - dah~!!! Anyone else put in TAIPAN, or am I the only one who is confused = q.v.

51. __-eared : LOP - DAH~! Who else went with "DOG"~?

53. Against : AVERSE TO

56. Cuddles : SPOONS - one of these days....

58. Trusts : RELIES ON

59. Features of many impromptu speeches : PAUSES

60. "Something wrong?" : "PROBLEM~?"

61. Least honest : SLIEST

DOWN:

1. Some old notebooks : IBMs

2. Kid's bud : PLAYMATE - My buddy Adam, who owns the restaurant,  is a daddy again - Pearl Snow, 7lbs-7ozs, born Dec 7th, 2014 - and they had picked Pearl as a name before the anniversary

3. Fliers, maybe : HAND-OUTS

4. Shocked letters : OMG - Text-speak for "Oh My God"

5. "You __ bother" : NEEDN'T - I read this as bRother my first pass

6. Fumbled, say : ERRED

7. "Lady Jane Grey" dramatist : ROWE - I would have preferred "Mike from Dirty Jobs" for a clue

8. Sign of something gone bad : ODOR

9. Raymond James Stadium NFLer : BUC - Rrrr....I went with RAM, and should have paid attention to the abbr. in the clue

10. Encouraging word : OLÉ

11. Playground retort : CAN TOO - I tried YOU too & ARE too

12. Holy Roman emperor, 1209-'15 : OTTO IV

13. Grinder : PESTLE - argh~! I keep missing this one, as well

20. Exasperated words : "NOW WHAT~!?!?"

23. Fat substitute : OLESTRA - I remember seeing this on "healthy" potato chips

24. Brief creator: Abbr. : ATTorney - because Fruit of the Loom did not fit

25. Goof : BLOOPER

26. Like La Niña, e.g.: Abbr. : FEMinine

28. Gingerbread house adornment : GUM DROP - some day I hope to build a gingerbread house in the style of a castle with kids of my own

29. Reveals, poetically : OPES

31. Some parlors, briefly : OTBs - Off-Track Betting

35. Hopeless : LOSE - LOSE

36. Joker's array : GOOD ONES - got stuck thinking of the jokers found in a deck of cards

37. Relaxed responses : AHs

39. __ Lingus : AER

41. Key of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 24 : F SHARP - OK, so I proudly filled in -M--OR, then waited....and got duped - not A MINOR, not D MAJOR, etc. - I think Mr. Silk checks in and tries to out-wit us

42. Vent part : LOUVER - ARGH~~!!  Took way too long to come to me

43. "Measure for Measure" deputy : ANGELO - Learning moment for me - did not know this was Shakespeare - the Wiki

44. Prison buddy? : PEN-PAL

47. Small flying predators : WASPS

49. Zaire's Mobutu __ Seko : SESE

50. Quark locale : ATOM

52. "Hey!" relative : psst~!

54. Needle : RIB

55. Pierre's pinch? : SEL - Frawnche "salt"

57. Pierre's permission : OUI - more Frawnche, this time "yes"

Splynter

Notes from C.C.:

1) To reader Bob Niles: You made a comment on Dec 24 saying your newspaper has no circles for the "Silent Night" puzzle. Can you let me know the name of your newspaper? You can email me crosswordc@gmail.com. Also, to our blog regulars, if anyone knows how to get in touch with Bob Niles via his Google Plus profile, please let me know. I can't find his email address.

2) Happy Birthday to Dudley our Handsome Pilot! Dudley has been with the blog for almost four years and is an avid fan of Downton Abbey & Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!  Dudley met the great Karl Kasell in a private meeting, if I remember correctly. Click here for more photos of him. They were taken during Montana's visit to Northeast in September, 2013.

Left to Right: Marti, Dudley, Hondo & Montana