google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner

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Nov 12, 2016

Saturday, Nov 12th, 2016, Roland Huget

Theme: None

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

Blocks: 26

Today's puzzle proved to be as difficult as it looked - whenever the symmetry separates the corners (as in this grid) and makes each of the corners independent, for me, that means either getting a foothold, or falling short.  I was able to fill in all the cells, but alas, no ta-DA~!  So I went back and found four red-letter mistakes.  Still, a solid effort on my part, and under my personal allotted time, as well.  7x7 chunky corners, two 9-letter crossings in the center, and four 8-letter "tie-ins";

35a. "Got a minute?" : "CAN WE TALK~?" - a certain catch-phrase for someone, too


21d. Prime example : POSTER BOY

 
  
HanWARD~!

ACROSS:

1. Where member golfers gather, familiarly : THE CLUB

8. Tybalt's house : CAPULET - Montague did not fit, and I was guessing he was a part of one of the main characters houses - either Romeo's or Juliet's

15. French roll : ROULEAU - I tried BAGUETE, which I figured needs another "T"

16. Cognizant of : ALIVE TO

17. Like some wake-up hours : UNGODLY - I like watching people's reactions when I tell them I am usually up for work at UPS about 2:30AM - they get that "It's unGODly~!" look on their faces - and in two weeks, it'll be 11PM for peak season

18. Wine product : VINEGAR

19. Biases : SKEWS - my initial Downs led me to try EDGES here

20. Corp. fundraiser : IPO - ah, a financial ploy, not a person

22. Greeted at the door : SAW IN - oops, not LED IN

23. Dollywood locale: Abbr. : TENNessee

24. __ door : STORM - I tried ENTRY first

26. Broadway seductress : LOLA

27. "__ tu": Verdi aria : ERI - learned from Crosswords

28. Oater accessory : TIN STAR - STETSON would fit, but clashed with CAVORT

30. Like half a deck : RED - I have been playing poker on Saturday nights for two months now, so this type of "deck" was foremost in my mind.  I am up $6 for the eight weeks, with a $20 buy in, and my best night was a $61 take

31. French appetizer : ESCARGOT

33. Hall of Fame knuckleballer Phil : NIEKRO - a Yankee, and I dredged him up from the depths of my mental past

37. Ponderosa order : RIB  EYE - I vaguely recalled that there was a restaurant chain known as Ponderosa, and it must have been from back in my Upstate NY or Cincinnati OH days; none around here


40. Performer who must be from 5'6" to 5'10½" tall : ROCKETTE - pretty good guess on my part; not that I knew of the height restrictions.  I think they must have "minimum leg requirements", too


44. No power can change it : ONE - ah, mathematics.  I was thinking in terms of "power outage", and having no electrical power.  Duh.

45. Calder sculpture : STABILE - learning moment for me.  Alexander Calder "invented" the art form of mobiles, and the ones that don't 'move' are called stabiles.  More from Wiki
There's an example right down the road from me that can be seen from NY 27, Sunrise Highway - referred to as the "big deer head", its title is actually "Stargazer"



47. Burgundy on screen : RON - good guess on my part - from the Will Ferrell movie "Anchorman"

48. Cookware portmanteau : T-FAL - "portmanteau" is one of those things I learned doing crosswords, as well - essentially, it's blending two words, like "SMOG" - smoke and fog.  In this case, as I just learned, it's short for TEFlon and ALuminum

50. Took : STOLE - I hesitated, but was on the "burglary" form of "took" wavelength

51. Paris green? : PARC - I tried EURO, for the money kind of green; then it was BANC, and that seemed acceptable; but BOINT was not - it was my 42d that I guessed wrong

52. Wyandot people : HURON - OK, I cheated - I Googled

54. Tournament pass : BYE

55. Axle in a wooden toy : DOWEL - a complicated definition of a simple item - followed by this clue;

56. One of two nuclides with the same neutron number but different proton numbers : ISOTONE - uh, OK, so I decided isotoPe was good enough, but I was 1/7th wrong

58. Contest name coined by its eventual winner : THRILLA - in Manila, a boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier

60. London-based news agency : REUTERS - took half perps for this to come to me

61. Goes underground : TUNNELS

62. Elaine's home, in Arthurian legend : ASTOLAT - my second "A" was an "E" at first

63. Me time? : EGO TRIP

DOWN:
       
1. Board member : TRUSTEE

2. Geese : HONKERS - I tried "GANDERS", which was 100% 3/7ths correct

3. Concerned with good breeding : EUGENIC - I had HYGENIC, which in the Down looked right, but it's Hyg-I-enic; I've never actually looked at the eugenics definition until today

4. One who's not serious : CLOWN

5. Some arena displays, briefly : LEDs - Light Emitting Diode displays

6. O'Hare initials : UAL - why did I think this was ORD at first~? Because that's the Airport Code.  When I looked up UAL, I was in Luau, Angola - the answer is the abbr. for United Airlines.  Tricky.

7. eBay option : BUY IT NOW - the only way I will buy anything off eBay - I can't be bothered to watch how my bids are doing

8. Frolic : CAVORT

9. "Aladdin" prince : ALI - could have been tied into 58A. if you ask me

10. Strike victims? : PINS
The revenge of the pins

11. __ layer: eye part : UVEAL

12. Old-fashioned investigation : LEGWORK - these legs work for me


13. Noncash business : eTAILER

14. Phenomenon measured by the Enhanced Fujita Scale : TORNADO - I mentioned the EF scale in a puzzle last month or so

24. Small seals : SIGNETS - I was thinking seals, the 'animal' - but mixed up my CYGNETS

25. Handcuff : MANACLE

28. Printer inserts : TRAYS - I was thinking "please don't be REAMS" - I cannot get that much paper in my home printer, though I guess one could do so with a commercial unit

29. "The Book of Hours" poet : RILKE - perps

32. Top performer : ACE

34. Squeeze (out) : EKE

36. Grooming process : TOILETTE

37. Estate planner's advice : ROTH IRA - being in the DOWN, I stared at this for way too long before the V-8 can flew

38. Imbues : INFUSES

39. Back up : BEAR OUT - I was 'meh' about this, but then I figured out that you better "back up" your argument, or the facts won't "bear out"

41. Net user : TRAWLER

42. Baroque composer Giuseppe __ : TORELLI - perps and one goof

43. Embrace : ENCLASP - OK, but for me, meh. Clecho with 59d. Embrace : HUG

46. Ideally : AT BEST

49. Numbers game : LOTTO

51. Essential thing : POINT

53. Winter air : NOEL - air as in "tune" or "song" - but "COLD" did pass thru my thoughts

55. 1962 title villain played by Joseph Wiseman : Dr. NO - bang~! Nailed it, but I am a big James Bond fan


57. FDR program : NRA - yeah, uh, this makes more sense than "P.R.E."

Splynter

Note from C.C.:

Happy birthday to Rich Norris, editor of LA Times Daily Crossword. Often half or more clues of each puzzle are Rich's creation. Like many other constructors, I've benefited so much from Rich's patient & expert guidance. Rich has not made any puzzle for NYT since 2008, yet he's still the fourth most published constructor in Shortz era.

Rich and his wife Kim

Nov 11, 2016

Friday, November 11, 2016, Patti Varol

Title: Time to clean the kitchen

Patti V., who doubles as Rich Norris' assistant at the LAT, has turned on the creative juices again in 2016 with 5 puzzles in the last 10 weeks. Today we have a variation of the definition puzzle, where words that are associated with each other - here items in a kitchen - are used as clues for completely different things. My only nit was including both DISH and PLATE and leaving out KNIFE, but then I realized there really are no other meanings for knife that do not relate to cutting. This is a very friendly puzzle with some new material as well as bringing back some memories from the 50s and 60s. We have as additional long fill ARTESIAN,  READ UP ON, PLEASE HOLD and  DEAN MARTIN. Cool, let's do it!

17A. Spoon : HUG TENDERLY (11). Do you want to be an EXPERT?

24A. Dish : SPREAD GOSSIP (12). Garbage Of Stupid Silly Ignorant People. I think it implies dishing dirt.

38A. Fork : BRANCH IN THE ROAD (15).  Who can forget Yogi Berra's saying "When you come to a fork in the road, take it"

49A. Plate : COAT WITH GOLD (12). I have nothing here except the old joke about the man (in the old un-pc days it was a Polish man) who won an Olympic gold medal and was so proud he had it bronzed.

60A. Bowl : PLAY TEN PINS (11). Boomer, is this acceptable or only used with duck pins?
In Canada, the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia, the game is commonly referred to as just "Bowling". In New England, "bowling" is usually referred to as "ten-pin bowling" or "big-ball bowling", because of the smaller diameter, lighter weight ball used in the Worcester, Massachusetts-conceived sport of candlepin bowling from 1880, and the similarly "small-ball" sport of duckpin bowling (conceived in 1895), popular in the Northeast United States

Across:

1. Assuming it's true : AS FACT.

7. "Bloom County" penguin : OPUS. I gratuitously linked him recently.

11. Jams : PJS. Jammies-yes. Jams?

14. After-dinner gathering : SOIREE. The forties and fifties were filled with soirees.

15. Go in different directions : PART. Part company.

16. Service to redo : LET. Tennis. 46D. Org. for netmen : ATP. The Association of Tennis Professionals  HISTORY.

19. Flight status info : ETA.

20. In addition : ELSE. Put it in, took it out, put it back.

21. "The Fault in __ Stars": John Green novel : OUR. if you like crying...

22. Leader's domain : REALM.

28. Chatter boxes? : RADIOS. I like the clue and remember the nights before we had TV and listening to all those great voices.

31. Light weight : OUNCE.

32. It may precede bad news : I FEAR. I fear we have run out of caviar, deah.

33. Beavers, e.g. : HATS. I bet you did not know all of THIS.

35. "Girls" channel : HBO.

42. Icarus, to Daedalus : SON.

43. Bar employee: Abbr. : ATTY. Please let us never have att as fill for lawyers.

44. String quartet member : CELLO. A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – two violin players, a viola player and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group. ... The string quartet was developed into its current form by the Austrian composer Joseph Haydn, with his works in the 1750s establishing the genre. Wiki.

45. Prefix with arch : MATRI. Patri anyone?

48. Bulldozer companion : LOADER. LINK. Can you name them all?

53. Marx with a horn : HARPO. Or many horns.
54. Vienna's land: Abbr. : AUStria.

55. The munchies, e.g. : URGE.

59. Hairy TV cousin : ITT. Great theme song to the Addams Family.
64. Flowery welcome : LEI.

65. It's retold often : LORE.

66. Greet on the street : TOOT AT. A rhymsical clue.

67. Roadside shelter : INN.

68. "Oh, ew" : YUCK.

69. Fancy, and then some : ORNATE.

Down:

1. New York stadium named for a sports great : ASHE.

2. __-searching : SOUL.

3. Tree fruit : FIGS.

4. Like some wells : ARTESIAN. This CONCEPT fascinated me as a chikd.

5. One of a Chicago duo : CEE.

6. Group of like voices : TENORS. We all the most famous group of three tenors but how about this GROUP which sings...

7. Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas," e.g. : OPERA.

8. Four score, often? : PAR. Really fun deception as more than half of all gold holes are played a par of 4.

9. Address bar address : URL.

10. "Lie Down in Darkness" author : STYRON. A truly influential writer who along with others started the Paris Review as well as authoring The Confessions of Nat Turner and Sophie's Choice.

11. Request before the music starts : PLEASE HOLD. 33D. Order before the music starts : HIT IT.

12. Beijing-born action hero : JET LI. Was he a STAR in your world C.C.?

13. Passport mark : STAMP.

18. Payable : DUE.

23. "I didn't mean that" key : ESC.

25. Bordeaux butcher's offering : PORC. French word for pork.

26. Eccentric : DOTTY. I think of Aunt Clara from Bewitched.

27. Write effusively : GUSH.

28. Smokehouse order : RIBS.

29. Coiffure style : AFRO.

30. '60s-'70s variety show host : DEAN MARTIN. After leaving Jerry Lewis, Dean has his own show.
34. Colony occupant : ANT.

36. Agricultural bundle : BALE.

37. Reminder to take out the trash? : ODOR.

39. Big name in WWI espionage : HARI. She is back. The 100 year anniversary of her execution will be in October 2017.

40. Green sci. : ECOLogy.

41. Research : READ UP ON.

47. Like some paper towels : TWO PLY.

48. Underscore? : LOSE TO. Very tricky; we use the other meaning of underscore often in legal writing.

49. Some like it hot : CHILI.

50. Like Cheerios : OATEN. To me they are more often eaten.

51. "Frida" star Salma : HAYEK. Seeing her with Antonio Banderas in Desperado was eye opening!

52. Prepare to remodel, maybe : GUT. Of the 16 definitions for this word, 4 are verbs.
13. (Cookery) to remove the entrails from (fish, etc)
14. (esp of fire) to destroy the inside of (a building)
15. to plunder; despoil: the raiders gutted the city.
16. to take out the central points of (an article), esp in summary form

56. Poet Dove : RITA. I like poetry but I am not up on my POETS.

57. Pest in a swarm : GNAT. Not a midge.

58. Where el sol rises : ESTE. Sun rises in the east even in Spanish speaking places.

61. Murderers' Row teammate of Babe : LOU. Ruth and Gehrig.

62. Part of a hinged-door floor plan symbol : ARC.

63. Fish-fowl link : NOR.

Wow, we are done already. Well I hope you enjoyed our kitchen duty and don't forget to turn out the lights when you are done. Thanks PV, it was fun. And thank you my bride Oo who will have a birthday tomorrow.  Lemonade out.
                                                  Celebrate all veterans now and before!!!





Nov 10, 2016

Thursday, November 10th, 2016 Matt Skoczen

Theme: Sponsored by Betty Crocker. Four "cake" mixes are presented in four theme entries arranged pinwheel fashion .

17A. Very close : NECK AND NECK. I'm glad I wasn't the one who had to sort this lot out at the 2004 Athens Olympics TRACK EVENT:


11D. Dash, but not dot : TRACK EVENT. A friend dog-sits for a family of pit bulls named Dot, Dash and Bracket.

60A. Holiday to-do list task : BAKE COOKIES. I tried "MAKE" first which meant figuring out the auction site was a little trickier than it could have been. I think this might be a little too close to the "cake" theme, but that's probably just me being grumpy today.

28D. 1954 Best Actress Oscar winner : GRACE KELLY. She went on to marry Prince Rainier III and became Princess Grace of Monaco.

and the reveal:

38A. Birthday party staple, and a hint to this puzzle's circles : CAKE MIX. Is the cake mix the party staple, or the cake? Methinks the latter.

You can make 24 varieties of CAKE with your figurative mixing bowl and whisk; Matt's picked four of them and slotted them across word boundaries in the four theme entries. There are some nice expanses of white space, especially in the northwest and southeast.

Let's see what else we've got:

Across:

1. Powerful watchdogs : AKITAS. My mind was well down the "consumer rights" type of watchdog before I managed to reel myself back in. Even seen the movie "Hachi - a Dog's Tale"? Two packs of Kleenex, minimum.

7. Silk Road desert : GOBI

11. Pulls a Halloween prank on, for short : TP'S. Do you really TP a house on Hallowe'en? I'd have thought there were too many people around to get away with it.

14. Put a new handle on : RENAME

15. "... wish __ a star" : UPON

16. Part of the fam. : REL. ative. We call them "relations" in England, it looks odd to my eyes now.

19. Police blotter letters : AKA

20. Daughter of Polonius : OPHELIA. No better excuse to link the song from The Lumineers.

21. Dependable source of income : CASH COW

23. Tearful queen : NIOBE. Quite why I knee-jerked SHEBA in here when I had the B I can't really tell you. Fixed it eventually.

25. Short strings? : UKES

26. More skittish : EDGIER

29. Dark mark : SMUDGE. Nice word.

33. Admonish : WARN

34. Artisan pizzeria feature : STONE OVEN. Food! Yum! I don't eat a lot of pizza, but thin crust like this - yes please!


37. Seventh in a Greek series : ETA

40. Big Band __ : ERA

41. Pastoral residences : RECTORIES. For some reason, I knew what Matt/Rich were getting at right away here. Technically, a rector lives in a rectory and a pastor in a pastorium, but we won't let that get in the way.

43. Huff : SNIT

44. Self-involvement : EGOISM

45. Williams of talk TV : MONTEL

47. "The Square Egg" author : SAKI. Hector Hugh Monroe to his formal friends. Ronald Searle also wrote a book with this title - I remember enjoying it some years ago. If you're not familiar with Mr. Searle's artistic talents, here's a taste:


49. Square, e.g. : SHAPE. See shape above.

51. Former Jesuit school official : PREFECT. We had prefects at my grammar school, but it certainly wasn't Jesuit.

55. Stretch : EXPANSE

59. Sushi selection : EEL

62. "The Miracle Worker" comm. method : ASL. How to fingerspell:

63. 2016 MLB retiree : A-ROD

64. Online newsgroup system : USENET. Is this still a thing? I thought Blogger, Facebook, LinkedIn and all the others would have consigned this to the technology scrap-heap of history.

65. Pop artist Lichtenstein : ROY. All I need to say is "WHAAM" and you can see the diptych.

66. Sun., on Mon. : YEST. Hmmm. Make a sad face and move on.

67. Mother in Calcutta : TERESA. Now promoted to Saint.

Down:

1. Ponte Vecchio's river : ARNO. Florence's river. Back in the day when we weren't such seasoned travelers, I remember a colleague returning from an Italian vacation raving about an unknown city he'd discovered called "Firenze".

2. Conserve : KEEP

3. Foot part : INCH. Tried ARCH. Was eventually proven wrong.

4. Hornswoggled : TAKEN IN

5. Charlotte __ : AMALIE. I thought this was either a movie character or an actress. Now I discover it is the capital of the US Virgin Islands. Learning moment.


6. Frequent discount recipient : SENIOR. I get a 5% discount at my local hardware store. Apparently 55+ is the new magic number - I get a discount at the swimming pool too.

7. Word with water or air : GUN

8. Energy org. since 1960 : OPEC. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

9. Florida city, familiarly : BOCA. Raton.

10. They're kept in pens : INKS. Didn't hesitate when K was already there.

12. Orange __ : PEKOE. Fill-in-the-blank avoids the awkward "type of tea" discussion/argument.

13. Picnic dishes : SLAWS Food! Can't beat a nice, crisp, freshly-made coleslaw. My coleslaw recipe has shredded carrots, cabbage and a dressing with a couple or ten ingredients, something like that.

18. Smidge : DAB

22. Sci-fi award : HUGO. Great-looking things.


24. Values highly : ESTEEMS

26. Spouted vessel : EWER. I hesitated over this for a while until the crosses made it obvious - I think of a spouted vessel more like a teapot, and a ewer to have a pouring lip, not a spout.

27. Palm fruit : DATE

30. Some den leaders : MOMS

31. Cycle starter? : UNI

32. Showtime title forensic technician, familiarly : DEX. From the show "Dexter", as you would assume.

34. Aspen gear : SKIS

35. Scary-sounding lake : ERIE

36. NASA part: Abbr. : NATL.

38. Soft sound : COO

39. Meyers of "Kate & Allie" : ARI. Thanks, crosses.

42. Certain happy hour exclamation : TGIF!

43. Bit of 11-Down gear : SNEAKER. Bit of retro 11-Down gear. I'm not sure those hi-tech Nikes, Reeboks and what-nots are called sneakers any more.

45. Borrow the limit on : MAX OUT

46. Combat : OPPOSE

47. Sharp weapon : SPEAR

48. "You __ grounded!" : ARE SO

50. '70s TV lawman Ramsey : HEC. Thank you, crosses. Before my (US) time. Hec Ramsey.

52. Auction venue : EBAY. Not EMAY as my MAKE COOKIES insisted that it was.

53. Bit of TLC? : CARE

54. WBA decisions : TKO'S

56. Muse count : NINE. I'm going to learn them one day. Calliope, Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polyhymnia and Urania.

57. Goes with : SEES

58. Spanish pronoun : ESTÁ.  Comó?

61. D.C. summer hrs. : EDT. Most of us waved goodbye to EDT just last weekend for another six months. It's about time we stopped messing around with the clocks, although it's less onerous than it used to be. The only manual adjustments I need to made are the analog kitchen clock and the microwave. Obviously I have a technologically-challenged zapper. It doesn't even have it's own IP address.

The sun came up again today - woo hoo!

Here's the grid!

Steve


Nov 9, 2016

Wednesday, November 9, 2016, C.C. Burnikel

Title: Kevin Garnett - Our lovely leader has chosen a fun initial gimmick with two word theme answers wherein the first word starts with a K and the second with a G. Her reveal shows this K_ G_ idea phonetically as CAGEY. C.C. said she was inspired this greatest Minnesota Timberwolf of all time whom she admired.


REVEAL:

38. Shrewd ... and a phonetic hint to this puzzle's four longest answers : CAGEY 

As you can see, her fun theme answers that are placed symmetrically - Two 10'S Across touching the left and right borders and Two Down 9's touching the top and bottom borders! Great!


16. Shade lighter than jade : KELLY GREEN - One of the team colors of the aforementioned KG


59. London co-creator of the International Plant Names Index : KEW GARDENS - Captain Bligh was gathering bread fruit in Tahiti for KEW GARDENS when the men on the HMS Bounty took issue with his command


10. Super-strong adhesive brand : KRAZY GLUE - Ah yes, I remember their ads


33. Extreme care : KID GLOVES - People always think debate moderators treat their candidate's opponent with KID GLOVES


Well let's KEEP GOING and see what other gifts C.C. has for us today.


Across


1. Welcomed at the door : SAW IN

6. "Shame on you!" : TSK

9. German trick-taking card game : SKAT - Have never played a hand


13. St. Teresa's town : AVILA - One of many Carmelite 39. Creatures of habit? : NUNS - in 16th century Spain

14. Use as a source : CITE

15. Egg on : URGE 18. Reckless act instigator : DARE - These two words can cause some very stupid behavior

19. Witty Bombeck : ERMA

20. Euros replaced them : LIRE

21. Buffoons : BOZOS

22. Target Field, e.g. : STADIUM - An easy drive from C.C.'s home


24. Nowhere near cool : DORKY

26. N.L. mascot whose head is a large baseball : MR. MET

28. Cracks up : LAUGHS

31. Finnish telecommunications company : NOKIA

34. Lindsay of "Freaky Friday" (2003) : LOHAN - A Disney star who, uh, "went south"

36. Bud's partner : LOU - Bud asked, "Who's on first?" LOU replied, "Yes!"

37. Exclude from the list : OMIT

40. Like Mars, visually : RED

41. Storybook elephant : BABAR - Did anyone else think of Red Barber with these two clues?

42. Sneaks a look : PEEKS

43. Points of view : ANGLES

45. Sleeping giant : SERTA - Love this clue

47. Actors memorize them : LINES - He's in a world of hurt!


49. Riddle-ending question : WHAT AM I - Stunning playground retort!



53. Chew out : SCOLD

55. "Now it makes sense" : I SEE

57. One-named supermodel : IMAN - Lovely, Somali-born woman who is now 61

58. __ Scotia : NOVA - New Scotland in Latin

61. Meryl's "It's Complicated" co-star : ALEC - Rotten Tomatoes gave it a "meh" 54%


62. Chevy subcompact : AVEO

63. Pasta tubes : PENNE

64. Skip a turn : PASS

65. Headed up : LED

66. Infuriated with : MAD AT


Down

1. Sushi bar brews : SAKES

2. Prevent : AVERT

3. Bedrock wife : WILMA

4. Words starting a confession : I'LL ADMIT - Johnny Cash sang, "I'LL ADMIT that I'm a fool for you"

5. Lawmaker's rejection : NAY - That's how they do it


6. 22-Across level : TIER

7. Energetic mount : STEED - Dudley's "trusty STEED" was named, uh, Horse


8. He's a doll : KEN - Barbie's main squeeze

9. Numbers game : SUDOKU

11. Soil-related prefix : AGRO - BOZOS took AGRI off my grid

12. Pro shop bagful : TEES

14. Forensics facility : CRIME LAB

17. Feeling blue : GLUM - Al Capp's poster child for this emotion - Joe Bltsplk 


21. Cereal component : BRAN

23. Nest egg letters : IRA

25. Big name in facial scrubs : OLAY

27. Forum robes : TOGAS

29. Traffic alert : HONK

30. Puzzle (out) : SUSS - A frequent strategy employed many of us solvers here 

31. Screenwriter Ephron : NORA

32. It may be a bad sign : OMEN

35. "Fasten your seatbelts" : HERE WE GO


38. Violin protector : CASE

39. "Swell suggestion!" : NEAT IDEA


41. Calisthenics movement : BEND - How many reps would you go for?



42. After-school org. : PTA

44. Shrubs with lavender blooms : LILACS

46. Perlman of "Cheers" : RHEA - Ree' uh not Ray or Ray uh


48. Colander cousin : SIEVE

50. Change, as a motion : AMEND

51. Old Testament food : MANNA

52. Illustrator's close-up : INSET

53. Easy-peasy task : SNAP - A sentiment expressed by a Shakespearean actor and director who also played Isaac the Bartender on Love Boat


54. Picnic soft drink : COLA

56. Neighbor of Nor. : SWED

59. __ Kan pet foods : KAL

60. Tach reading : RPM

Now it's your time for our CAGEY bloggers to give us their pertinent and impertinent remarks!



Nov 8, 2016

Tuesday, November 8, 2016, Gail Grabowski & Bruce Venzke

Theme: Change of Life

20. *Old West transport : STAGE COACH. LIFE COACH

40. *Trailways, for one : BUS LINE. LIFE LINE.

11. *Handsome guy or gorgeous gal : DREAM BOAT. LIFE BOAT.

34. *Temporary group for a specific job : TASK FORCE. LIFE FORCE.

60. Having financial freedom ... and, literally, what the last words of the answers to starred clues comprise : SET FOR LIFE

Melissa here. Mostly a walk in the park, only one unknown, and perp help needed with a few. Solved without realizing the clever theme.

Across:

1. Catnip or coriander : HERB

5. Throw in the towel : QUIT

 9. Former "Idol" judge Paula : ABDUL


14. Old music halls : ODEA. Definition: A hall, theater, or other structure for musical performances. My unknown - maybe I'll remember next time.

15. Loosen, as laces : UNDO

16. Author John le __ : CARRE

17. Out of control : WILD

18. Road in old Rome : ITER. Latin for road, journey, or way.

19. Martial arts-based fitness routine : TAEBO. Can never remember if it's spelled with an I or E.

23. British brew with a red triangle in its logo : BASS


24. "Oops, almost forgot" : OH YEAH

25. Captain Marvel's magic word : SHAZAM

27. Felt sorry about : RUED

29. Workable, as an alternative : VIABLE

32. Good—and bad—dietary substances : FATS

35. Consumed : EATEN

38. Jiffy Lube supply : OIL

39. __ Fáil: Irish "stone of destiny" : LIA


42. Big fuss : ADO

43. Pennysaver contents : ADS

44. "Family Matters" nerd : URKEL

45. Kenton of jazz : STAN



46. Making a cake, say : BAKING

48. DVR pioneer : TIVO

51. Charlatans : FAKERS

54. Shoe polish targets : SCUFFS

58. Molecule part : ATOM

62. Bouquet __: chef's tasty bundle : GARNI. French for "garnished bouquet," a bundle of herbs gathered and tied into a bundle, usually to prepare soup or stew.


64. Retail complex : MALL

65. Took a tumble : FELL

66. One sent back down the river? : EX-CON

67. "Metamorphoses" poet : OVID



68. Russian river : URAL

69. Loses on purpose? : DIETS. Nice clue.

70. Nickname for José : PEPE

71. A great deal : LOTS

Down:

1. "In what way?" : HOW SO

2. Novelist Wharton : EDITH

3. Race with batons : RELAY

4. Annoys persistently : BADGERS

5. Pielike brunch serving : QUICHE

6. Golden rule word : UNTO

7. "Any more bright __?" : IDEAS

8. Olympic symbol : TORCH

9. Play a part : ACT

10. Words to a black sheep : BAA BAA

12. Metro regions : URBS. Not sure I've heard this shortened word before.

13. Many August babies : LEOS

21. Water in the Seine : EAU

22. Place of safety : HAVEN

26. Kindle read, briefly : ZINE

28. Furniture with a lock, maybe : DESK

31. North Carolina campus : ELON 

32. Personal trainer's target : FLAB

33. Verdi princess : AIDA. Opera.

36. 23-Across, e.g. : ALE

37. Lean : TILT

40. Camp bed : BUNK. Too many letters for COT.

41. Impulses : URGES

45. Deeply expressive : SOULFUL

47. Emphatic denial : I AM NOT

49. Wagner princess : ISOLDE. More opera.


50. 48-Across ancestor : VCR

52. Swab again : REMOP

53. Avoid, with "off" : STAVE

55. Sporty '80s Pontiac : FIERO

56. Note equivalent to E : F-FLAT

57. Flies off the shelf : SELLS

58. Like much whiskey : AGED

59. Prepare for takeoff : TAXI

61. Toss of a coin : FLIP

63. Elected pols : INS

Nov 7, 2016

Monday, November 7, 2016 Brock Wilson

Theme: Uncle! - Words from a lop-sided contest.

39A. Not a close game, a headline for which may include the end of 17-, 30-, 46- or 63-Across: ONE-SIDED VICTORY

17A. High school infatuation: TEEN CRUSH

30A. A few hours for doing whatever: TIME TO KILL

46A. Rich coffee lightener: HEAVY CREAM

63A. One of two Senate "enforcers": PARTY WHIP

Argyle here. Figuratively, this puzzle creamed us but literally, it was a cream puff. Both bottom corners did give me pause though. Fourth Monday for Mr. Wilson.

Across:

1. Encircled by: AMID

5. Note from the boss: MEMO

9. Strolls through the shallows: WADES

14. Calf-length skirt: MIDI. So demure.


15. Words while anteing: "I'M IN". Poker.

16. Make a speech: ORATE

19. Wash lightly: RINSE

20. Slowpoke in a shell: SNAIL

21. Worker's allowance for illness: SICK DAYS

23. Tide table term: NEAP

26. U.K. flying squad: RAF. (Royal Air Force)

27. Detriment to air quality: SMOG

36. Prune, as a branch: LOP. Prune nothing in the fall! Story

37. Colombian metropolis: CALI


38. Capital of Morocco: RABAT


43. Runway gait: STRUT



44. Taunting remark: GIBE

45. Bobby of hockey: ORR

49. "The __ the limit!": SKY'S

50. One hovering around the flowers: BEE. 60. 50-Across home: HIVE

51. Future atty.'s exam: LSAT. (Law School Admission Test)

53. Ground beef dish: MEATLOAF

58. Coffeehouse flavor: MOCHA

62. Quarterback's "Snap the ball at the second 'hut'": "ON TWO"

66. Tall story?: ATTIC. Har Har.

67. Ohio border lake: ERIE

68. Roof overhang: EAVE

69. Place for road trip luggage: TRUNK

70. Amount owed: DEBT

71. Scott who sued for his freedom: DRED. He lost. Story If you read it, be sure to read the end.

Down:

1. Lbs. and oz., e.g.: AMTs. Amounts.

2. Personal bearing: MIEN

3. Bit of brainwork: IDEA

4. "Fine" eating experience: DINING. Meatloaf?

5. Former Russian space station: MIR. (Russian: peace)

6. Grounded Aussie bird: EMU

7. "Swing and a __, strike one": MISS

8. Available for the job: ON HIRE. Idiom: Also, for hire.

9. Company employees, as a group: WORKFORCE

10. Like the Mojave: ARID

11. "The X-Files" agent Scully: DANA. Dana Scully is played by Gillian Anderson.

12. Crafts website: ETSY. https://www.etsy.com/

13. Experiences with one's eyes: SEES

18. MLB's Indians, on scoreboards: CLE. Timely. (Cleveland)

22. Litter box user: CAT

24. Slightly: A TAD

25. Paperwork accumulation: PILE

27. Walk through puddles: SLOSH

28. __ Carlo: MONTE


29. Met performance: OPERA. The Metropolitan Opera House is located on Broadway at Lincoln Square in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Part of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, you get there by practice, practice, practice.

31. Gnatlike insect: MIDGE

32. Kit__: candy bar: KAT

33. Former Apple laptop: iBOOK

34. Comedy's Cable Guy: LARRY. He does the Prilosec OTC commercials.

35. Galactic distances: Abbr.: LT-YRs. (light-year)

37. Urban distance unit: CITY BLOCK

40. Toyota RAV4, e.g.: SUV. (sport utility vehicle)

41. Lab vessel: VIAL

42. PCs, originally: IBMs. Back in the day.

47. Top corp. officer: CEO. (chief executive officer)

48. Gathered from the field: REAPED

49. Stuck in a hold: STOWED. As in, placed in the hold of a ship.

52. Acker of "Person of Interest": AMY. The show started off in one direction but ended in another. I'm not sure the writers had a firm game plan.



53. Castle protector: MOAT

54. __'acte: ENTR. An interval between acts.

55. Westernmost Aleutian island: ATTU


56. Jacob or Esau: TWIN

57. Taxi meter figure: FARE

59. Scorch: CHAR

61. Made fun of: APED

64. Make fun of: RIB

65. Vietnamese New Year: TET. Tết Nguyên Đán, which is Sino-Vietnamese for "Feast of the First Morning of the First Day".


Argyle