Sunday Feb 7, 2016 Alan Olschwang

TITLE: PRESIDENTIAL FIRSTS

INITIALLY, I had no idea about the gimmick and wondered what presidential firsts would have to do with TRAINS, AUDIBLES, et al and then JUST FOR KICKS hit me like a ton of feathers (which weigh the same as a ton of bricks)!

Mark's lovely Super Bowl Sunday puzzle required no reveal as he reasoned that the first letters of seven three-word-phrases will stand out like a brick in a punchbowl and, coupled with the title, would  allow solvers unravel his ploy of using the INITIALS of seven U.S. presidents to start each word in those phrases.  

Tain't easy McGee. Try it with your initials and let us know what you get.

Husker Gary back on the bandstand to serve as emcee on Alan's clever exercise. Using my initials, I'll just say it's a Gosh Darn Shame if you were expecting C.C.'s Sunday blogging. WAIT,  this just in, C.C. will make a triumphant return on Valentine's Day Sunday! Cheers rise from the assembled masses!

Let's first see the themeage:

23. Austria's Railjet, for one (#33) : HIGH SPEED TRAIN - Our 33rd president Harry S (stands for nothing) Truman or this train capable of 143 mph

45. Changes the play at the line of scrimmage (#21) : CALLS AN AUDIBLE - Our 21st president Chester Alan Arthur or what Peyton will be doing today in the Super Bowl to change the play by yelling

74. Words from a returning traveler (#43) : GUESS WHOS BACK - Our 43rd president George Walker Bush or what Yankee fans might have said about our crossword pal A-ROD this year

102. D.C. trip highlight (#27) : WHITE HOUSE TOUR - Our 350 lb. 27th president William Howard Taft or the purpose for which these are used. 

130. Drinking song popularized by the Glenn Miller Orchestra (#36) : LITTLE BROWN JUG - Our 36th president Lyndon Baines Johnson or the traveling trophy for the winner of the annual Minnesota/Michigan game. Michigan leads the series 74 - 25 - 3

17. On a lark (#35) : JUST FOR KICKS - Our 35th president John Fitzgerald Kennedy or why the Carolina Panthers hired Graham Gano

67. Could be more productive (#34) : DON'T DO ENOUGH - Our 34th president Dwight David Eisenhower or my biking output

Across     
  
1. Got a four, probably : MADE PAR - Jusitn Spieth's 8-under scorecard for the first round of the 2015 Master's shows most golf holes are PAR Fours

8. Undermines : ERODES

14. With one's back against the wall : IN A JAM

20. Unsettle : AGITATE

21. Ridicule : DERIDE - What some do to the men in our theme

22. Retiring : DEMURE

25. Has a life : EXISTS

26. Fatuous : INANE

27. "The Lion King" baddie : SCAR

28. French connections? : TETE A TETES - Some Tête-à-Têtes are très discret

30. Derisive shout : HOOT

32. Source of twigs called withies : OSIER - Our Red OSIER Dogwood were beautiful in all seasons

34. __ nouveau : ART

35. Take the high way? : FLY - Cute

36. Vietnam's __ Dinh Diem : NGO - He was assassinated 3 wks before JFK by... 

38. MLB scorecard entry : SAC - SACrificing your turn at bat to perhaps score the GO AHEAD RUN from yesterday's Silkie or at least move a baserunner up

40. Most massive known dwarf planet : ERIS - Pluto's new family

42. Word on mail from Madrid : AEREO 

50. NutraSweet developer : SEARLE - Their Enovid was the first FDA-approved birth control pill and was very lucrative for the company

53. Fatty acid type : OLEIC

54. Sea-Tac abbr. : ARR - Our ARR(ival) at the SEA(ttle)-TAC(oma) airport in 2014 was delayed in Minneapolis by what Delta called a "sick airplane"

55. Some oscilloscope users: Abbr. : EE'S - We physics teachers use 'em too like Electric Engineers

56. Invited : ASKED

57. Actor with a mohawk : MR T - I pity the fool with a haircut like his

59. "Football Night in America" network : NBC

62. "Avatar" extras : ET'S 

64. Telling tales : LYING - Maybe the current FX Series People vs OJ Simpson will tell us the truth (actors in top row, real life people in bottom)

65. Like many an infielder's throw : SIDE ARM - Much quicker

69. Missoula home : MONTANA - Also our good friend Darlene

72. Spotty affliction? : ACNE

73. Latin trio word : AMO - AMO, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant. That's a whole lot of lovin' 

78. White wine aperitif : KIR - I had this in last Sunday's OFF CENTER puzzle

79. "M" director Fritz : LANG

81. 1988 NFL MVP : ESIASON - Boomer ESIASON's foundation was on the 101st floor of the WTC North Tower on 9/11/01. All employees were survived as they were to report to work late that day

82. Sentence sections : PHRASES

84. Bits in a byte, e.g. : OCTET - 8 bits in a byte in Computerland 

86. Vague number : ANY

87. One who might be given the business : SON 

89. Ages and ages : EON

90. Acknowledge tacitly : NOD TO

91. Prophet's claim : ESP - "Hey, prophet, shall I bet the Panthers and lay the points?"

93. Yet, to Yeats : THO

96. Put a handle on : NAMED - C'mon, you know the song with - "Who could put a NAME on you?"

100. Cuddles : SPOONS

106. Author Madeleine L'__ : ENGLE - Best known for A Wrinkle In Time

108. Holly genus : ILEX

109. Sports __ : BRA - The most famous picture of one

110. Valuable deposit : ORE

111. Former Saturn model : ION

113. Max. : ULT

115. Drained of color : ASHEN

117. Alibi problems : GAPS

120. Critical point : CROSSROADS - Two roads diverged in a yellow wood...

124. Lotion additive : ALOE

126. Agricultural pioneer : DEERE 

129. Call on the carpet : HAUL UP

133. '90s veep : AL GORE

134. Bumpy : UNEVEN

135. Andalusian city : GRANADA

136. Snickered : TE HEED - or TEE HEED

137. Roma road : STRADA - Artisti di STRADA a Roma (Street artists in Rome)

138. Tossed about : STREWED - Less common past participle of STREW
 
Down

1. When doubled, a common dolphinfish : MAHI

2. Back-country "contrary to" : AGIN

3. Do spadework : DIG A HOLE - or quit... (3 words but no prez initials)

4. Centric start : ETHNO

5. '90s Toyota : PASEO

6. Netmen's gp. : ATP - Association of Tennis Professionals

7. "Cheers" actor Roger : REES

8. Icelandic literary works : EDDAS - Do you see EDDA in there?

9. Gave it another go : RETRIED - I Retired from teaching and after 6 months I RETRIED it for another six years

10. Skating legend : ORR

11. Venomous venting : DIATRIBE - A lot of us know what famous comedian was unleashing a DIATRIBE on actress Edie McClurg in this hilarious scene

12. Nicollette's "Desperate Housewives" role : EDIE - Or an actual EDIE above

13. Words with letter or fax : SENT A

14. Conceptualizes : IDEATES

15. To follow : NEXT

16. Sweetie along the Seine : AMIE

18. Soviet cooperative : ARTEL - An ARTEL of Russian (pre-Soviet) artists in 1863

19. Unkempt : MESSY

24. Green wheels : ECO CAR

29. One may be named for a president : ERA

31. Screening org. : TSA - Some women claim TSA agents ask them to go through the scanner more than once

33. NW Penn. airport : ERI - ERI(E) Airport. In NY a lake, county and canal 

36. Base fig. : NCO - Remember the NCO who was in charge of the motor pool at Ft. Baxter?

37. __ pal : GAL

39. Santa __ winds : ANA

41. Rains hard? : SLEETS

43. Like Pinocchio, eventually : REAL

44. Cinch course : EASY A

46. Bar fruit : LIME

47. Beanpole : SCRAG

48. Immortalized vessel of rhyme : URN - Keats' last two lines from his Ode On A Grecian URN

49. Abbr. before a year : ESTAB

51. "Law & Order" detective Briscoe : LENNIE - Jerry Orbach also did movies and trod the boards of Broadway 

52. Trimming tools : EDGERS

58. "No argument" : TRUE - See Keats above

60. Mercedes rivals : BMW'S - I only learned it was Bavarian not British Motor Works when we toured around Munich 

61. Pacific salmon : COHOS

63. Walk in the park : SNAP

65. Drawing rooms : SALONS

66. End of the '50s TV intro that began "This is the city" : I'M A COP - Later changed to "I carry a badge" following police officer complaints

68. Badlands formation : MESA

70. Verboten thing : NO NO

71. Aleve can alleviate one : ACHE

75. Toughness : SINEW

76. Greets, with "to" : SAYS HI

77. Danish capital : KRONE - You'd receive 34 KRONER (pl.) in change for this bill when getting a McDonald's Combo meal in Copenhagen 

80. Board : GET ON

83. Structural subj. : ANAT - ANATOMY abbr.

85. Half a patio pair : TONG - TONGS

88. High degree : NTH

92. Columnlike architectural piece : PILASTER - Some rather famous ones

94. Hang out : HOBNOB - Archaic - From Hob and Nob - give and take - drinking to each other's health

95. "__ Gang" : OUR - Last Sunday we saw Alfalfa and Buckwheat

97. Saskatchewan city : MOOSE JAW - The Peacock Collegiate High School teams in MOOSE JAW are called the Toilers

98. Asian lead-in : EUR

99. "The Chronic" Dr. : DRE

101. Downed noisily : SLURPED

103. French possessive : TES - e.g. TES livres (your books)

104. Blew out : EXHALED

105. Give a little : SAG

107. Gp. that hired an orchestra for its "Eldorado" album : ELO

111. Phased-out Apple messaging tool : iCHAT

112. Papal garment : ORALE - Today called the FANON - the white/gold striped cape - yet to be worn by Francis 

114. Anklebone : TALUS

116. Barack's 2010 High Court appointee : ELENA

118. Exchange of nasty spots : AD WAR - Finally, with Iowa Caucuses gone, some of you others can have these

119. Shells alternative : PENNE

121. Astringent fruit : SLOE

122. Foolproof : SURE - "Is that right Mr. Madoff?"

123. By __ of: due to : DINT

125. Joule components : ERGS - An ERG = An ant doing a pushup and a Joule = 10,000,000 ants doing a pushup

127. Snippy, say : RUDE

128. "Great Scott!" : EGAD

131. Power agcy. created in 1933 : TVA - The Danville, KY elevator that was left when the TVA dammed the Tennessee River. The bottom five floors were flooded as Kentucky Lake was formed

132. Fido's find : ORT

Using my initials again, I'd call Alan's puzzle Genuinely Delightful Solving! Now let's go see your INTIAL responses -

The Grid:

Saturday, Feb 6th, 2016, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie~!

Words: 68 (missing F,J,V,W,X)

Blocks: 32

Can I just say that it didn't matter how difficult this puzzle was going to be, I was just happy to see "Silk" at the top, next to the author's name~?  Not a walk in the park, mind you - some clever fill and clues, but somewhat dulled by a few "meh" ones.  The thing about Mr. Silk's puzzles is that if I just "sit" with a clue, eventually an idea will "40D."  and give me a fighting chance.  The last corner to fall for me was the NE, after I changed one four-letter entry.  Pretty standard grid, with triple 10-letter corners connected to a fourth 10-letter spanner, offset, and the one nine-letter central clue;

33. Old, fading ad on a building : GHOST SIGN

Furniture AND Undertaking~? I wonder what they kind they make....

5. Potential diamond winner : GO-AHEAD RUN - not sure which diamond it might be; we were talking at UPS about skiing this week, and there are 'diamonds' in that pastime, too

58. Newark neighbor : EAST ORANGE - New Jersey - my birth state

PatersoNJward~!

ACROSS:

1. R&B Foods brand since 2014 : RAGU - Once I got the "U", I went with a WAG

15. Old Testament book : AMOS - oops, I put in ENos - but I had the "OS" part already, so I'll call that 0-for-2

16. Far from perfect : ERROR PRONE - like, say, my first pass on a Saturday solve

17. Prepare for a meal : MAKE - I get it, but....meh

18. Bakery aisle offerings : ONION ROLLS

19. Burpee product : PLANT SEEDS - a bit redundant to me, but I see boxes from the company at UPS all the time, so I knew what to look for

21. Place to build : PLOT - dah~!  Not SITE, my four-letter mistake - 25% correct, 100% wrong

22. Get together : AGREE - I tried UNITE first

23. D-Day transport : LST - been a while since this has appeared in a Sat puzzle

24. Indicator of stress: Abbr. : ITALics

25. 1997 Hawke/Thurman sci-fi film : GATTACA - didn't see it; - IMDb page. I just watched "Bridge of Spies" - very good movie, but a bit drawn out

28. Cell terminal : ANODE - battery cell; I did ponder TOWER or PHONE at first

29. Hummingbird's pair? : EMs

30. Guzzle : CHUG

32. Kudos : PROPS - praise synonyms

35. Jazz dance : STOMP

37. "Aaugh!" : "OH NO~!"

38. Avoid, as an issue : BEG - around these parts it's more like "beg off"

41. Crystal of country : GAYLE - one of my first fills

42. Poisonous plant in the nightshade family : HENBANE - the Wiki

44. How some data is backed up : ON CD

45. Low-fat meat source : EMU - one of those Saturday learning moments

48. Busters : NARCS

49. Psalm words : O GOD

50. Plan Z? : LAST RESORT - clever

53. Most elementary level : GROUND ZERO - this was exactly what I was talking about at 1A. last week~!

55. Cyan relative : AQUA

56. Putty base : LINSEED OIL - ah.  I am familiar with putty, but never checked the ingredients

57. Crave, with "for" : LUST - not PINE; see 32D.

59. Nantes noodle? : TÊTE - Frawnche - and for those who are offended - see here @ 40A.

DOWN:

1. Agitated state : RAMPAGE - also a pretty cool arcade video game; you start out as a city-bashing creature, but if you take enough damage, you revert to your human self

2. Mixture : AMALGAM

3. Mario game racers : GO-KARTS - this is one video game I never got into

4. Online discussion venue : USENET - been popular on Saturday lately

5. Storms of the '90s : GEOs - GM Chevrolet sub-brand; they made the Metro, which had a 3-cylinder engine - the Wiki

6. Alençon's department : ORNE - more Frawnche - I did not realize their "counties" are called departments

7. Fourth-largest moon of Uranus : ARIEL

Odd place for a "Midsummer Night's Dream"

8. Range protectors : HOODS - ah.  I was thinking of some "park ranger", but we're talking this kind of range

9. Physicist Mach : ERNST - oddly, my first two 'confident' fills were proper names; just goes to show, you either know it, or your don't

10. Diamond birthstone mo. : APRil - my birthstone is Amethyst - the chart

11. Surprise with a visit : DROP IN ON

12. Antique shop furniture item : ROLL-TOP - desk, very elaborate construction-wise and still stylish today

13. Vents : UNLOADS

14. Get cozy : NESTLE - OK, I was asked to show some scantily-clad men, so....let's get zesty

20. "I want to learn" : "TEACH ME"

26. Ocean turbulence : CHOP

27. It borders It. : AUS - not many choices, really, so I went with SWI - then SUI, then SUS, and then oh, right, AUS

28. French battle site in WWI : ARGONNE

31. "Little modified Pon-Pon" in a 1964 hit : GTO - pretty good WAG on my part; then again, weren't half the songs in the 60's about your girl and/or your car~?

32. Needle source : PINE - ah, here's where PINE goes

33. Valuable particles : GOLD DUST

34. Proctor's warning : SHH~!!!

35. Wine-and-fruit beverage : SANGRIA

36. Barons : TYCOONS

38. Bernini's genre : BAROQUE

39. Coat, in a way : ENCRUST

40. Develop over time, as an idea : GESTATE

41. Android developer : GOOGLE

43. Volcanic rock : BASALT

45. Superior : ELDER

46. Tribute maker : MAZDA - more cars; same thing as a Ford Escape

47. Apply to : USE ON

51. Course with many angles, briefly : TRIG - ah, not GEOMetry

52. Something to fill : ROLE

54. Hero in a virtual reality film trilogy : NEO - "The Matrix"

Splynter

Friday, February 5, 2016, Alex Vratsanos

Theme: Going around the block in my town.

Alex Vratsanos, has worked his way back to Friday after two Sunday and then two Saturday LATs. He also has been published on all 7 days by the NYT. C.C. posted his INTERVIEW last year. Today he gives us a visual puzzle that requires not filling in the word TOWN in each of the theme answers. The reveal tells us to look for the theme fill on the outside (outskirts) of the puzzle. The visual requires you 'see' the word TOWN  metaphorically outside of the grid. This style is an extension of the rebus where multiple letters appear in a grid. This is actually the exact opposite of last week's puzzle where a four letter word was inserted into the fill. I thought the theme came very easily as Chinatown in San Francisco is very well known and had to be the solution to 1 across. Of course anytime a theme starts there it will be a challenge. I wonder if the grid-spanning reveal was the inspiration for the puzzle?

There are a few sparkly fill longer than the theme fill which will upset some, such as BASS SAX, I'LL TELL,  SLITHER, , BARTLETT and  SALES REP and a variety of six letter ones.  Let's look it over.

1A. San Francisco section : CHINA TOWN. (5). A fun place to visit.

6A. Hailing place? : HOME TOWN (4).  This is mine.

10A. One growing up fast? : BOOM TOWN.(4). Often fueled by mine strikes. From the 1800s, looks like where I grew up.

65A. Hightail it : SKIP TOWN. (4). A bit of an outlier as it is generic.

66A. Site of Cornwallis' surrender : YORKTOWN. (4). In Virginia, sorry I get stupid at times.

67A. City on New York's Black River : WATERTOWN. (5). Pretty in the fall, but obscure. OLEAN 2?

1D. Cattle-raising district : COW TOWN. (3). Maybe this is where he meant. LINK. (2:51).

13D. Textile production settlement : MILL TOWN. (4). See 6A.

24D. Tourism hub : RESORT TOWN. (6). Where I live now.

34D. Place to see stars : TINSEL TOWN.(6). Where they make the movies. READ.

51D. Historic Omaha suburb : BOYS TOWN.(4). I will let HG and other address this place.

61D. Drama set in Grover's Corners : OUR TOWN. (3). Thornton Wilder PLAY.

The reveal:
38A. Border area, which contains a hint to solving this puzzle's 12 border answers : OUTSKIRTS OF TOWN (15).

Across:

14. Laura Petrie catchphrase : OH ROB. Mary Tyler Moore to Dick Van Dyke.

15. Will's role in "Celebrity Jeopardy!" sketches on "SNL" : ALEX. (Trebeck) A bit of self shout out here. Now how do you work VRATSANOS into the grid?

16. Cultural opening? : AGRIcultrural.

17. Slip 'N Slide maker : WHAMO. Wham-O Inc. is a toy company in Woodland Hills, California, USA. They are known for marketing many popular toys in the past 50 years, including the Hula Hoop, the Frisbee, the Slip 'N Slide, the Super Ball, the Trac-Ball, Silly String, the Hacky Sack and the Boogie Board. Per wiki. The company was born in 1948, a really vintage year.

18. Singer Halliwell : GERI.  We all remember Ginger Spice.

19. __ time : REAL.

20. National alternative : AVIS. Rental cars.

22. Playground threat : I'LL TELL. We did not tolerate squealers.

24. Word with guilt or debt : RIDDEN.

27. Symbol of strength : STEEL.

28. Those, in Tijuana : ESOS. Spanish.

29. Tennessee team, briefly : VOLS. Timely as former Tennessee Volunteer Peyton Manning preps for the Super Bowl.

31. Unveiling : DEBUT. It will be Cam Newton' s debut, number four for number 18.

35. It's double-hyphenated: Abbr. : SSN. xxx-xx-xxxx

36. South Asian garment : SARI.

37. Helical pasta : ROTINI. Sounds almost religious.

41. Get back : REGAIN.

42. Foot on a farm : HOOF. Hand: PAW   Foot: HOOF

43. Fleur-de-__ : LIS.

44. Search casually, as for a bar pickup : TROLL. Anyone else think of this classic? MOVIE. (2:37)

45. Marathon prep run : TEN-K.

46. Found (on) : BASE. I think it should say upon.

47. Toon with an odd laugh : ELMER.

49. Author Allende : ISABEL. The most successful Spanish language author?

51. Big wind : BASS SAX. Three Esses....cool. You know what they say, even bass sax is good sax.

54. "Doggone it!" : HECK. Never hear this anymore.

55. General Bradley : OMAR.

56. Rao's competitor : RAGU. This is like suggesting a competitor for a Maserati is a Chevy.

58. Richard __, Pulitzer-winning author of "Empire Falls" : RUSSO.

62. Ranch neckwear : YOKE. Hopefully only for the livestock...

63. Old players, briefly : VCRS.

64. Root of the Progressive Era : ELIHU. An interesting MAN.

Down:

2. He lost to RMN : HHH. Hubert Horatio Humphrey. Also interesting.

3. Nest egg letters : IRA.

4. Migrants : NOMADS.

5. Like stars : ABOVE.

6. Witches : HAGS. Witches get such a bad rap.

7. Miss modifier? : OLE. As a school nickname....not easy to see.

8. Good qualities : MERITS.

9. Kick out : EXILE.

10. The 18th edition of his original work was published in 2012 : BARTLETT. The man and the quotations.

11. Type of arch : OGEE.

12. __-B : ORAL. What is your toothbrush, electric?

21. Without success : IN VAIN.

23. Opened : LED OFF.

25. Bank, cardwise : ISSUER. OOF.

26. Plea to remain : DON'T GO.

27. Move like ophidians : SLITHER. Fancy name (ok scientific name) for snakes. "It had to be snakes!"

30. "Catch-22" pilot : ORR. Our hockey star gets a rest for this supporting character in a wonderful book.

32. H.S. experiment site : BIO-LAB.

33. Reckless, say : UNWISE.

36. Tricks of the trade : SKILLS.

37. Annual award recipient : ROOKIE. Baseball rookie of the year probably.

39. Pitcher? : SALES REP.

40. Simba, to Sarabi : SON.

45. Company founded in Beaumont : TEXACO. Beaumont, TEXAS.

46. Scott of "NCIS: New Orleans" : BAKULA.

48. "Neato!" : MARVY. Not in my world.

50. Common fastener : SCREW. This has so many possible twists and turns, all too risque for now.

52. Crazily : AMOK.

53. Munro pen name : SAKI. If you do crosswords you should know this.

54. Corn cover : HUSK. A CSO to Gary?

57. Canine warning : GRR.

59. Canine command : SIT. Nice pairing.

60. Seagoing pronoun : SHE. Yes ships are female.

Oh my we are into the second month of the year already. Luckily with online bill paying I do not risk writing 2015 on my checks. Anyway, I hope you checked out this fun puzzle and write up and see you next time. Lemonade out.