Wednesday, June 14, 2017, Agnes Davidson and C.C. Burnikel

TITLE: UNDER IT ALL

Husker Gary here again on a Wednesday with the distinct pleasure of reviewing yet another puzzle by our favorite new pair of constructors - Agnes and Zhouqin - aka Irish Miss and C.C. 

These two lovely ladies went vertical today as the theme fill and the reveal shown below were all standing up. The themers are all highlighted in red and green and the reveal is in all green because each green part of the theme answers can have SHEET appended to their, uh, BOTTOMS to make another common phrase.

Theme answers with SHEET appended

3*Regarding the subject at hand..." : ON THAT SCORE/SCORE SHEET - Here is what I regard as the most famous SCORE SHEET ever. It shows the twenty-seven Dodgers who came up against Don Larsen and were all retired in order in Larsen's 1956 Perfect World Series Game.

19. *Like leisure suits and Nehru jackets : OUT OF STYLE/ STYLE SHEET - All blogs have "STYLE SHEETS" that can be modified with elements at the top for presentations like what we bloggers use here 

21. *Nike competitor : NEW BALANCE/BALANCE SHEET - America's BALANCE SHEET has been out of whack for quite a while

24. *Major-league : BIG TIME/TIME SHEET - Some have issues with the machine that generates TIME SHEETS

And the reveal for Agnes and C.C.:

25. Bed cover ... or, literally, what the end of each answer to a starred clue is : BOTTOM SHEET - Yeah, constructing puzzles and getting that BOTTOM SHEET on is not always that easy

Now for the DOPE SHEET on the rest of their always fun fill:



Across

1. Wall St. debuts : IPOS

5. Land formerly ruled by a shah : IRAN and  27. 5-Across capital : TEHRAN

9. Political Ron or Rand : PAUL - Rand went into Dad's trade

13. Van starter? : MINI

14. Stuffed shells : TACOS

16. Data, for instance : INFO

17. "Big __" Delaney: "Sons of Anarchy" character : OTTO

18. "Tsk tsk" : SHAME ON YOU

20. Hawaiian priests : KAHUNAS  Or burgers from Pulp Fiction 

22. " ... bug in __" : A RUG - Snug as a...

23. Skating jump : AXEL - Wow!

24. Petrol pumper : BRIT - About  £1.19/liter or $5.74/gallon

25. Went for the lure : BIT

28. Decide : OPT

30. Starbucks amenity : WIFI - Nothing else there is free 

32. As an example : FOR ONE - Yeah, I believe Ken Jennings would think that. :-) 

34. "Street Dreams" rapper : NAS

35. Hosiery hue : BEIGE

37. Get : FETCH

38. Stretchy synthetic : LYCRA - My daughter wants me to buy some LYCRA biking shorts that have padding in very sensitive areas. I don't want to look like a 70-yr-old guy trying to look like he's 25.

40. Inc. relative : LTD

41. Ravi Shankar's instrument : SITAR - Ravi wasn't into the 60's hippie scene despite what was written about him

42. How some tuna is packed : IN OIL

43. Swiss chocolatier since 1845 : LINDT

45. Mama bear, in Tabasco : OSA

46. Standard : NORMAL

48. More than a few : MANY

49. Bishops and knights : MEN - Here a bishop and a knight have the King (who as usual is only in a supporting role) checkmated

50. Animal common in rebus puzzles : EWE

51. Permission slip : NOTE

53. "Too bad" : ALAS - poor Yorick...

55. Pac-12 team : UCLA

56. King of fiction : STEPHEN - Whenever I see a '57 Plymouth Fury...

59. Deep-fried carnival confection : FUNNEL CAKE

63. Dad, to Dumas : PERE - Alexandre Dumas' PERE a été Thomas-Alexandre Dumas

64. Morales of "The Brink" : ESAI

65. Corn Belt towers : SILOS - Omaha artists have made SILOS into works of art along I-80

66. Toy brand with a Ninjago line : LEGO

67. It's outstanding : DEBT

68. Small pie : TART

69. Thames school : ETON - On June 10, ETON lost to Wellington in Threepenny 1 Cricket by 50 runs. Bit of a sticky wicket!


Down

1. "No harm done" : I'M OK - Ah, back to my counseling days and Transactional Analysis

2. Baba ghanouj bread : PITA

4. Iowa's __ City : SIOUX

5. "So not true!" : IT'S A LIE

6. Cheers from tiers : RAHS

7. Obamacare, briefly : ACA - Affordable Care Act

8. Baseball analyst Garciaparra : NOMAR - NOMAH at Fenway

9. "And the Putter Went ... __": golf history book : PING - But Joann, it's on sale!

10. "__ questions?" : ANY


11. Blur in a tabloid pic : UFO - They never seem to land on the lawn at MIT

12. Fox Business anchor Dobbs : LOU

15. Letter flourish : SERIF - Agnes Davidson and C.C. Burnikel - One with SERIF and one sans SERIF

26. As a precaution : IN CASE

28. How much shopping is done : ON LINE

29. Webpage option under an invoice : PAY NOW

31. Top off, say : FILL - Nah, I've still got 60 miles worth in there...

33. Retailer that abstained from Black Friday in 2015 and launched an #OptOutside movement instead : REI - I didn't do either but I like their thinking!

36. Flamboyant Dame : EDNA

39. Cup lip : RIM

44. Crime lab procedure : DNA TEST - "Uh, Number 2, we'd like to you stay"  I used this graphic on a March puzzle, but I thought it bore repeating!

47. Sprawls on the couch : LOLLS

52. Implied : TACIT

54. Cobbler fruit : APPLE

55. Foot or furlong : UNIT - I remember Dan and Jane as Parental UNITS from when SNL was funny

56. Hershey's toffee bar : SKOR - A fav of mine

57. Thus : ERGO


58. Flashy light : NEON - Times Squares now OPTS for LED lights

59. Served dinner to : FED

60. Take advantage of : USE

61. Arrest : NAB

62. Menu catchphrase : ALA - This is the third Puzzle ALA Irish and C.C. I have blogged and they have all been a pleasure! 


Well, I am finished between the sheets. You?

Tuesday, June 13 2017, Parikshit S. Bhat

Theme: Right Out of the GATE. Anagrams.

18. Beverage from China's Wuyi Mountains : OOLONG TEA. The best tea I ever had was from a tea room in San Francisco's China Town - Oolong Formosa, selling for $30 an ounce. It tastes like caramel and butter. The complexity of teas from the highest peaks in Taiwan are becoming harder to come by as land is reclaimed to prevent erosion. Tragic.

 3. Make terrific progress : GO GREAT GUNS

5. Protective vests, gas masks, etc. : RIOT GEAR

28. Rep seeking promising performers : TALENT AGENT

42. "Stop sweating the small stuff!" : GET A LIFE

60. Attend a party uninvited ... and a literal hint to five sets of circled letters : GATE CRASH.  

Melissa here. "Crash" indicates the circled letters are scrambled. This was a little crunchy for a Tuesday - the circles helped fill in a few unknowns. Fun to see theme answers both across and down.

Across

1. Composer heard at graduations : ELGAR. Sir Edward Elgar composed Pomp and Circumstance, traditionally heard at graduation ceremonies.

6. Exerciser's target : FLAB

10. Rescue from trouble, with "out" : BAIL

14. Actress Watts of the "Divergent" films : NAOMI

15. Change the decor of : REDO

16. "... __ and for all!" : ONCE

17. Medical prefix with -plasty : ANGIO. Not rhino.

20. Insertion marks : CARETS

22. World's longest river : NILE

23. Accessory usually not worn on casual Fridays : TIE

24. Bearded antelope : GNU

26. Cast a spell on : BEWITCH

31. From time immemorial : AGE OLD

34. Eritrea's capital : ASMARA. Oh sure, I knew that. In the Horn of Africa, east of Sudan, and just west of the Red Sea.

35. Opel model meaning "stars" in Latin : ASTRA

37. Ears in the field : CORN

39. Move wearily : PLOD

40. On-call doctor's gadget : PAGER. Still?


41. Flightless Aussie bird : EMU

42. Ballpark figure : GUESS. Love this clue.


43. Lie adjacent to : ABUT

44. Small songbird : WREN. Did you know wrens can be colorful? Above is a variegated fairy-wren, and at left is a purple crowned wren.

45. German artist Max : ERNST. (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) Painter, sculptor, graphic artist, poet.

46. Movie theater : CINEMA

48. Six-line sonnet section : SESTET

50. Subjugate : ENSLAVE

52. Salty expanse : SEA

53. Nav. VIP : ADM

56. Drought-stricken : SERE. What? Is this Tuesday?

58. Torment : PLAGUE

65. Passport, e.g.: Abbr. : IDENT. Not GovID.

66. Like a thesis defense : ORAL

67. James of jazz : ETTA. A Sunday kind of love 💘.

68. Backyard border : FENCE

69. Flamingo color : PINK

70. Unhappy fate : DOOM

71. Fragrant compound : ESTER

Down

1. Make official, as a law : ENACT

2. Hawaiian island, or Hawaiian porch : LANAI

4. French sweetie : AMIE

6. To and __ : FRO

7. Novelist Uris : LEON. Known for his historical fiction novels.


8. Improvise on stage : AD LIB

9. Algebra type : BOOLEAN

10. Marsh : BOG

11. Pantry pest : ANT

12. Cubes in a tray : ICE

13. Grassy field : LEA

19. The first "N" of CNN : NEWS. Cable News Network.


21. __-cone : SNO

25. Stomach woe : ULCER

27. Contaminated : IMPURE. Sneaky, I was looking for a verb.

29. White symbol on Switzerland's flag : CROSS

30. Owned, old-style : HADST

32. Storybook sister who pushed the hag into the oven : GRETEL

33. Semicircular roofs : DOMES

35. Speedily : APACE

36. Polio vaccine developer : SABIN

38. Mystical letters : RUNES

44. Was indecisive : WAVERED

47. Opposite of fem. : MASC

49. Autumnal equinox mo. : SEP

51. Muse for poets : ERATO

54. Nincompoop : DUNCE

55. Taxi calculator : METER

57. This, in Spain : ESTO

59. Summer refreshers : ADES

60. Republican org. : GOP

61. Shapiro of NPR : ARI

62. Shade provided by the sun? : TAN. Great clue.


63. Moose kin : ELK

64. Popular Easter entrée : HAM

Monday, June 12, 2017 Ed Sessa

Theme: Witch Doctor - is missing but you can find three other doctors to choose from. Choose wisely.

20. Challenging response to provocation: "YOU AND WHO ELSE?". Doctor Who

33. Ruthless strategy: TAKE NO PRISONERS. Dr. No

39. Nestlé chocolate chip treat: TOLL HOUSE COOKIE. Dr. House

49. Words on Lucy's "Psychiatric Help - 5¢" sign ... and a hint to 20-, 33- and 39-Across: [THE DOCTOR IS IN]

Argyle here. Interesting mix today. Some newbies might not recognize some of the old crosswordese we take for granted. Two grid spanners. A lot of music; the muse, Erato, must have been busy.

Across:

1. Aesop's lazy grasshopper, for one: IDLER

6. One of many in an ovation: CLAP

10. Critter catcher: TRAP. Alliteration clue.

14. "Stars and Stripes Forever" composer: SOUSA. #1 Clip(3:27)

15. __ Hashanah: Jewish New Year: ROSH

16. Beatles meter maid: RITA. #2 Clip(3:05)

17. Classic violin: AMATI

18. Eight-armed mollusks: OCTOPUSES. Octopuses or octopi, InfoPlease

22. Like many a villainous fictional scientist: MAD. Or villainous fictional Doctor.

23. Baseball tool: BAT

24. Strut on a runway: SASHAY

28. Newsman Huntley: CHET. "Goodnight, Chet"

30. Word with chick or split: PEA

36. Operatic highlight: ARIA

37. America's National Tree: OAK

38. Fish-catching bird: ERNE

44. George Carlin hosted the first one, briefly: SNL. (Saturday Night Live)

45. Yours and mine: OURS

46. Warned, like a cornered cat: HISSED

47. Appropriate: APT

48. Actor Mineo: SAL. He died in 1976.

56. Always masked one's true self: LIVED A LIE

58. Fuming: IRATE

59. Cheese in a red wax coating: EDAM

60. "Cheerio": "TATA!"

61. Father-son senators from Tennessee: GOREs. Jr. and Sr.

62. Jupiter and Neptune, e.g.: GODS

63. Like Mr. Hyde, e.g.: EVIL. #3 Clip(4:19)

64. Phishing nets?: SCAMS

Down:

1. Words to an old chap: "I SAY ... "

2. "__ arigato": Japanese "thanks a lot": DOMO. #4 Clip(5:34)

3. Bash with tiki bars: LUAU

4. This, to Juan: ESTA

5. 1988 Hoffman title role: RAIN MAN. "One minute to Wapner"

6. Ballpark filler: CROWD

7. With 55-Down, monster's lake: LOCH 55-Down. See 7-Down: NESS

8. Regarding: AS TO

9. Ditzy "Friends" friend and singer Snow: PHOEBEs. I was confused because Phoebe Buffay was a "singer", too.

10. Bond between friends: TRUST

11. Stand up: RISE

12. Chowed down: ATE

13. Kent and Kettle: PAs. They never met. More alliteration though.

19. Aristotle's teacher: PLATO

21. "The Banana Boat Song" word: DAY O. #5 Clip(3:07)

24. 755 HRs and 2297 RBIs for 25-Down, e.g.: STATS

25. Slugger Hank: AARON. Hammerin' Hank had a mastery with a BAT.

26. Mastery: SKILL

27. Recover from wounds: HEAL

28. Tactless: CRASS

29. Walk on a trail: HIKE

30. Exec's extras: PERKS

31. Bert's buddy: ERNIE

32. Plant __: start something: A SEED. Every time that I plant a seed

He said, "Kill it before it grows"

34. Do the honors, at a winefest: POUR

35. Modernists, briefly: NEOs

40. Wished: HOPED

41. Render obsolete: OUTDATE

42. Transportation secretary Elaine: CHAO

43. Drillers at sea: OIL RIGS

47. Throat-clearing sounds: AHEMs

48. Take unlawfully: STEAL

49. Plug on the small screen: TV AD

50. Norse king: OLAV

51. __ Field: Mets' stadium: CITI

52. Camaro __-Z: IROC. (International Race of Champions)

53. Poet Teasdale: SARA

54. Tabloid couple: ITEM

56. Chicken serving: LEG

57. Altar vow: "I DO"

One more Doctor.

Argyle

Tournament Notes from C.C.:

Below is a picture of all the constructors for the Sixth Minnesota Crossword Tournament. You can click here for a few more. Marcia Brott's team won the Team champions. Alyssa Mondelli is the Amateur Division champion and Carl Voss is the Expert champion. Congratulations to all the winners!

Thanks to Victor for his tireless work editing all the puzzles, esp for helping me with my theme. His puzzle this year is very clever, like all his puzzles.

Andrea Carla Michaels and Mark McClain (not present) made another smooth puzzle despite some difficult letter combos. Andrea is coming to MN next week and I look forward to our lake walk.

George and Chris elevated a common puzzle gimmick. Wonderful local tie-in.

David Hanson's puzzle has a tight and consistent theme set. Great title too. Ages ago, David used to comment on our blog as Rosebud.

Andy's theme is lovely. Sparkly theme entries, fill and thoughtful clues.

Jeffrey the Artist was busy working, but we had a few quick spurts of chat. He's truly passionate about puzzle making and constantly challenges himself.

David Liben-Nowell's puzzle is another masterpiece. Just amazing!

Tom's puzzle is a crowd-pleaser. Incredibly clean (his trademark). One solver walked up to him afterwards marveling at the middle theme answer.

Andrew's themeless has a gorgeous stagger stack. He also had the tough job of writing three different sets of clues for the finals.

Thanks to the Friends of the St. Paul Public Library for hosting this event every year. Thank you, Liz, all the sponsors and volunteers!

Thanks also to Argyle & D-Otto for test-solving my puzzle and giving me constructive feedback. I love you guys!

Left to right: George Barany, Jeffrey Wechsler,Victor Barocas, David Hanson, C.C., Andrew J. Ries, Chris Adams, Tom Pepper &  David Liben-Nowell

Sunday June 11, 2017 James Sajdak

Theme:  "Getting Old" - AGE is added to each familiar phrase.

23A. "Reduce, reuse, recycle"? : MESSAGE OF GREENS. Mess of greens. New term to me. Looks like just collard greens. Notice GREENS changes meaning also.

32A. Harm caused by some lodge builders? : BEAVER DAMAGE. Beaver Dam. Beaver remains the same.

47A. Black Friday scene? : ENTRY RAMPAGE. Vivid picture. Entry ramp.. Entry remains the same, in a way.

64A. Shredder fodder? : CLERICAL GARBAGE. Clerical garb. Clerical changes also.

82A. Inventory alert at the highway sign supplier? : STOP SHORTAGE. Stop short. Not much change.

98A. Aromatic oils? : MASSAGE MEDIA. Mass media. Media changes also.

111A. Saw you can't discuss publicly? : CLASSIFIED ADAGE. Classified ad. Classified changes meaning.

Two AGEs are attached to ends of the first words, five the second words. Consistent. No odd man out. I like when the non-key word change meanings also.

So nice to have James Sajdak back again. He is one of those very few constructors who're good at both themed and themeless grids.

Across:

    
1. Actually existing : IN ESSE

7. Bottle in a playpen? : BABA Just baby talk.

11. [Not my mistake] : SIC

14. Six-time NBA All-Star Stoudemire : AMAR'E. Can never remember his name.

19. Beethoven's "Appassionata," e.g. : SONATA

20. Designer Cassini : OLEG

21. Anguish : WOE

22. Meet competitor : MILER

26. "__ Mio" : O SOLE,  "My sunshine."

27. Involving a lot of tossing, perhaps : SLEEPLESS. Motrin PM helps Boomer.

28. Go wrong : ERR

29. Stunt setting : AIR SHOW

31. About six weeks on the liturgical calendar : LENT

34. Cod and others : CAPES
 
37. Ups : RAISES

38. Tap output : ALES

39. Mantilla material : LACE. Mantilla is a new word to me.

40. Teach improperly? : LEARN. I don't get this clue.

42. Pejorative : SLUR

44. Half a score, or a perfect one : TEN. Nice clue.

51. On topic : GERMANE

54. Gets going : INITIATES

55. First name in Solidarity : LECH (Walesa)

58. It may be set in stages : OATER

59. Certain dancer's accessory : FAN. Fan dance. We also have 65. Half a dance : CAN

60. In any way : EVER

61. Michelangelo work : PIETA. In St. Peter's Basilica

63. Unborn, after "in" : UTERO

68. "Heavens!" : OH GOD!

71. Tasteless : TACKY

72. Swear words : OATH

73. Got an __: aced : A ON.  Filled in AN A. Not reading the clue.

76. Gold standard : KARAT. Also 80. Good as gold, e.g. : ANALOGY

77. Went under : SANK

78. Means more than : OUTWEIGHS

85. NFL advances : YDs

86. Actor Morales : ESAI

89. They come from têtes : IDEES. Followed by 90. Sans opposite : AVEC

91. Season, in a way : SALT

94. Got into the market : TRADED

96. Gay song locale : PAREE. Gay Paree. Cheerful Paris.


101. Pelts : FURS

103. Problem when using a well? : INK SPOT. Inkwell! Not the well problem of TTP's neighbor.

104. Sheltered side : LEE

105. 1898 Dewey victory site : MANILA BAY. Learning moment for me. George Dewey. I only know Dewey in Dewey Defeats Truman guy.

110. Airheads : TWITS

114. Late, in Los Cabos : TARDE. Probably same root as our TARDY.


115. Farm layer : HEN
 
116. River to the Caspian : URAL

117. Evasive tactic : END RUN

118. Guatemala girls: Abbr. : SRTAs

119. "Go on ... " : AND

120. Hand off : PASS

121. Boundary marks : STAKES

Down:

1. Beliefs : ISMS

2. Coward often quoted : NOEL. Noel Coward.

3. Massachusetts motto opener : ENSE. "Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem". Mouthful. OK, it means "By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty."

4. Freelancer's enc. : SASE

5. Gun insert : STAPLE. Staple gun.

6. "Tequila Sunrise" group : EAGLES

7. Lift : BOOST

8. UFO pilots : ALFs. ALF stands for Alien Life Form. Got via crosses.

9. Request a pardon? : BEG

10. Seeing eye to eye : AGREEING

11. Changes course suddenly : SWERVES

12. It's charged : ION

13. Activist Chavez : CESAR

14. Seeing no evil? : AMORAL. Nice clue also.

15. Long-distance lover's question : MISS ME?

16. Nickname based on a salutation : ALOHA STATE. Also 70. Island entertainment symbol : GRASS SKIRT. These ladies seem to have fun.

17. Enter again : RE-LOG

18. "Maid of Athens, __ part": Byron : ERE WE

24. Bard's nightfall : EEN

25. Significant times : ERAS

30. "__ you to try it!" : I DARE

32. Vamp Theda : BARA. Our old friend is back.

33. Community coll. class : ESL

34. Tropical plant with large foliage : CANNA. Another learning moment for me.

35. Join the cast of : ACT IN

36. Sassy : PERT

37. Gavel sounds : RAPs

39. Adventurer Ericson : LEIF. Second son of  Erik the Red.

40. More recent : LATER

41. Professor __ : EMERITA

43. "Gross!" : UGH

45. Cabinet dept. formed under Carter : ENER. Slight clue dupe with 64. Energy source : COAL

46. Lyre-playing emperor : NERO

48. Retreat in the face of : YIELD TO. Look, this big tree yielded to my kick.

49. Wild party : RAVE

50. Formal lament : ELEGY

52. Less polished : ROUGHER

53. Game-ending call : MATE. Oh, checkmate.

56. Pilot's announcement: Abbr. : ETA

57. Do some serious bar-hopping : CAROUSE. Good old days.

61. Scout carriers : PACKS

62. Type : ILK

66. Realty ad count : BATHS

67. Lawrence Welk's upbeat : A TWO

68. Approve : OKAY

69. Set of cards : HAND

73. Mescal source : AGAVE

74. "Wow!" : OH GEE.  I shouted "oh, wow" a few times after D-Otto showed me some mad programming skill. Boomer asked me "So, what's Tom's bowling average?"

75. Infinitesimal span, for short : NSEC

77. PBS part: Abbr. : SYS. Error, right? PBS has no System. Public Broadcasting Service.

78. Piece of one's mind? : OP-ED

79. __-Tass : ITAR

81. Start : GET GO

83. Prepares for guests : TIDIES UP. Our house is quite messy.

84. Classical theaters : ODEA. Also learned from doing crosswords.

87. Bill passer? : ATM. Great clue.

88. Swift's birthplace : IRELAND. Jonathan Swift. Not Taylor.

92. Legal drama fig. : ASST DA

93. Lost moments : LAPSES

95. Citrus drinks : ADEs

96. Serengeti families : PRIDES. Lions.

97. Not upright : ASLANT

98. Diamond equipment : MITTS. By the way, TTP was right last week. This catcher is A. J.

99. Co-Nobelist with Menachem : ANWAR

100. __ Sketch : ETCH A

101. Some are epic : FAILS

102. Article in Le Monde? : UNE. DES/LES too.

105. Curators' credentials, on a C.V. : MFAs

106. "__ dash of ... ": recipe words : ADD A

107. Request for Alpo? : BARK

108. Feverish feeling : AGUE

109. Itches : YENS

112. Quarterback Dawson : LEN. Hall of Famer.

113. Novelist Levin : IRA

Looking forward to seeing some of you at the Sixth Minnesota Crossword Tournament this afternoon. 

C.C.

Saturday, Jun 10th, 2017, C.C. Burnikel

Theme: C.C.C.W.~!!!

Words: 72 (missing H,J,Q,Z)

Blocks: 33

  Another Saturday offering from our prolific blog hostess, C.C.  By my count, this is her 23rd puzzle ( some with contributors ) for the LA Times this year.  The last Saturday grid was back in February, and I went back and looked it over - that one went fairly easy, and today's was about the same.  I did not have much in the way of answers for the long fill, but some of the shorter ones gave me some traction, and it went from there.  Just one crummy cell which would not cooperate.  Triple 10s across, nearly triple 9s in the down;

1a. One who may start a rally : LEAD-OFF MAN - no good C.C. puzzle could "lead off" with anything less than a baseball clue.  As for hockey, we're down to one, perhaps two more games ( I hope ) before the Stanley Cup is awarded, and then it's a tough wait until October

54a. Persevere : GRIND IT OUT

11. Luxury resort amenity : SWIM-UP BAR

 Never got the chance - see 42d.

29. Comparative Web traffic statistic : ALEXA RANK - I have Alexa (Echo), and I think it's the coolest thing I own which I only use about 10% effectively - I see there's a book for getting the most out of Alexa.  As far as the "RANK" is concerned, more here

I was looking for some video clips, but every time the host in the clip asked his Alexa something, my Alexa answered.  So I said "Alexa, surely you can't be serious", to which she responded "I am always serious, and don't call me Shirley"

ONWARD technology~!

ACROSS:

11. Borg's land: Abbr. : SWEden - Did think Star Trek:TNG at first ("computer, is your great grandmother Alexa~?"), but decided it was much more Earthly, so I went with GERmany, recognizing that it was a "town" title, but pondered DENmark, etc., too. 

14. Crunchy chocolate-covered candy brand : ALMOND ROCA - huh, never heard of it

15. Pull : SWAY - similar clue last week, and my first thought "YANK" did not "play" well with others

16. Meets expectations : MEASURES UP

17. Reference : CITE

18. Golf course units : ACRES - I tried HOLES first

19. AutoZone brand : STP

20. "Hannibal" co-screenwriter David : MAMET - filled via perps

21. Chateau __ Michelle winery : STE - WAG on the "E"

22. Luge medium : ICE

23. Put in stitches : SUTURE - not the humorous definition

24. Gmail lifesaver : UNDO SEND - undo delete is all I use - undo send sounds potentially hazardous

27. Network debut of 1970 : PBS - well, the "B" was there, and I figured CbS was wrong, maybe BBC;  naw, TBS~?  Oh, PBS. 

28. Group of experts : PANEL - my first thought, but I hesitated

30. Expedia shopper's plan : TRIP

31. Took the worm : BIT

32. Banned : ILLEGAL

34. Online game figures : AVATARS

36. Miss identification? : NÉE

37. Fivers : ABES - oops, not FINS

39. Jacquie Lawson online offering : eCARD

40. Office fixture : FAX 

41. Addresses capped at 18 minutes : TED TALKS - I had an idea what this referred to, but waited for some perps

43. Fashion house founder Marant : ISABEL - an "all perps" fill

45. Golf's "Big Easy" : ELS - professional golfer Ernie Els - crossword staple

46. Parisian pronoun : SEs - Frawnche for "himself"

49. __ Circus: ancient Roman arena : NERO'S - the "R" was my last fill, and the crossing had me baffled

50. Beach top : BRA - with a cross-reference at; 9d. Small 50-Across size : A-CUP

51. Seasonal temp : SANTA - argh, this one gets me all the time.  A temporary employee, at the mall, say

53. "My word!" : "I SAY~!"

56. Mint holders : TINS - because PILLOWS didn't fit

57. Preliminary research procedure : PILOT STUDY - always makes me think of the second scene in Pulp Fiction where Jules tries to explain a "pilot" TV show to Vincent

58. Bug big-time : IRK

59. "I'm with you, girl!" : "AMEN, SISTER~!"

DOWN:

1. Monastery figures : LAMAS - MONKS seemed too easy for Saturday

2. Choose : ELECT

3. Italian love infinitive : AMARE - oops, not amOre

4. Healthy amount? : DOSE

5. Heavy load : ONUS

6. Coin profile since 1946 : FDR

7. Work on a ceiling : FRESCO - the noun, not the verb

8. Top hostess' asset? : MOSTEST - Dammit, I could not find a usable clip of Bobbi Flekman from Spinal Tap for this clue - I even tried to make a meme, but that didn't work, either.

10. One may be taken under a tree : NAP - I take one every day - but not under a tree - my day is two shifts, both starting at 3 o'clock; first in the AM, then in the PM

12. Crane, e.g. : WATERBIRD

13. Some licensing requirements : EYE TESTS

15. ''Shoo!'' : SCAT

20. Facial treatment : MUDPACK

22. Avery product : ID LABEL -I use their business cards for making my game play cards in demos, and their iron-on transfers to make my own T-shirts

Poker night shirt - good distraction

23. Relatives of whimpers : SNIVELS

24. Article in Vogue Paris : UNE - more Frawnche

25. Cancels out : NEGATES

26. Stalin __ : ERA

28. Start of a Dickensian request : PLEASE, SIR - may I have some more~?

32. Q50, e.g. : INFINITI - I recognized this car model right away

33. Took control : LED

35. UCLA aides : TAs

38. Unproductive : STERILE - ah, that kind of unproductive

42. 12-step offshoot : AL-ANON - two "self-help" references in today's grid; this one paired next to; 55d. Rehab woe : DTs - personally, they happened in detox, not rehab.  I spent 13 months in a sober house, got the state of NY to pay for my AA ( no joke ) degree in AutoCAD drafting

44. Blue-clad youngsters? : BOYS - as opposed to the 'pink-clad' girls

46. Babe feature : SNOUT - Babe, the famous pig.  I like the babe's feature above - BTW, I have not "missed a week" - I merely threw deception into the mix when I posted a pantyhose legs pic on May 27th, but directed your attention to back dimples....

47. Practice piece : ETUDE

48. Pan pal : SATYR - clever clue

50. Panama border? : BRIM - the hat, not the country/canal

51. "Certainly, señor!" : "SI, SI~!"  - A si si for C. C.~!?!?

52. "The Good Wife" figs. : ATTorneyS - never watched the show

54. Coll. admissions criterion : GPA

Splynter

Friday, June 9, 2017, David Alfred Bywaters

Title: G, take T and see!

Our second puzzle from David, with his LAT debut a Friday in December last year. He began then by adding "EX" to phrases, and returns with a replace a letter - G becomes T -  which is revealed by the perfect G IS T (gist).  We have no other consistency, with three 3 letter second words, one with the first letter changed in the first word, one with the last letter in the first word and one with a middle letter.  We have six themers and the reveal to give us a packed puzzle, with little room for long sparkly fill.  This filled without any complete unknowns and the long non-theme fill, CRAYOLA, SEATTLE, RAMPANT, SARCASM, PRECINCT and IT'S A DEAL were all gettable.  let's look at the puzzle.

17A. Sports geek get-togethers? : STAT PARTIES (11). StaG Parties are no longer PC.

25A. Halloween decoration? : PAPER BAT (8).  Paper BaG. Want to make your own?

32A. Longhair cat's monotonous routine? : PERSIAN RUT (10). Persian RuG.  Very cute.

43A. Last one left angrily carrying on? : LONE RANTER (10). Lone RanGer. The only soft G.

48A. Imperfection in a pointillist painting? : STRAY DOT (8). Stray DoG. 

61A. Moral? : TALE WARNING (11). Gale warning. 

The reveal

69A. Essence ... and, read differently, a hint to six puzzle answers : GIST (4). 62 theme squares.

 Across: 

1. Dirt removal method : BATH. Very fun clue, so simple but like the soap, very slippery.

5. Like much religious music : CHORAL. Choral, chorale, choir, and chorus stand in obvious relationship to one another and are in some respects used interchangeably when a body of singers, for example, is referred to as a choir, a chorus (Latin noun derived from the Greek word choros), or a chorale, which properly is a Lutheran hymn tune. (Britannica).

11. Uncooked : RAW.

14. It replaced the Cypriot pound : EURO. I did not even know Cyprus used the Pound.

15. Go back : RENEGE. A word I learned playing bridge, which has nothing to do with the clue here.

16. Stumble : ERR. "To stumble is human", just does not have the same ring.

19. Gardening tool : HOE. I wonder if Santa uses one in his garden.

20. Upper part : TOP. Tempting to link something, some would like to...

21. Keep an __ : EYE ON.

22. Pesters online, in a way : SPAMS.

24. Wall St. event : IPO. Initial Public Offering.

27. Western city named for a Suquamish chief : SEATTLE. Apparently he was Chief of this TRIBE.

31. Witness : SEE.

35. Throw : CAST. Your bread upon the water....

39. Early computer : ENIAC. You must know this by now.

40. Hound over a debt : DUN. Do people still refer to dunning letters?

41. Agile : LITHE.

42. Group of two : DYAD. From Latin and Greek root.

45. Job ad abbr. : EOE. Equal Opportunity Employer.

47. Feature of many negative reviews : SARCASM. Sarcasm is not always negative.

53. Corp. leaders : MGT. Management.

54. Greets : HAILS.

55. Feel around : GROPE.

57. Printemps month : MAI. French for Spring and May.

60. Addams family cousin : ITT. I could not find one with Fester wearing a Fez.

64. Tasseled hat : FEZ.

65. Pair of ones? : ELEVEN. I have seen it before but still tricky.

66. Wary of : ON TO.

67. Test : TRY.

68. Fight against : RESIST.


Down:

1. Leading : BEST. The beginning was slow for such easy words, but the nearby fill was fiar.

2. Car : AUTO.

3. Door in the floor : TRAP. Did any of you fall for this clue?

4. Sweating, maybe : HOT. Perfect clue for summer.

5. Tropical Rain Forest seller since 1993 : CRAYOLA. Is this a single color or a set of greens?

6. "__ we go!" : HERE.

7. Leading : ON TOP. See 20A, 21A, 66A....

8. Spanish queen : REINA. I learned this Spanish word from puzzles.

9. Birthday count : AGE. How many put the correct number of candles on the cake?

10. Car user, maybe : LESSEE.

11. Detox locale : REHAB. I guess, since people are always going to rehab.

12. Draw from the oven : AROMA.

13. Take forcibly : WREST.

18. Digestive : PEPTIC. "...relating to digestion, especially that in which pepsin is concerned." Pepsin being a key digestive enzyme.

23. Administrative district : PRECINCT. There are voting precincts, police precincts....

24. Words spoken while shaking : IT'S A DEAL. Handshaking. Nice clue.

26. Winter hrs. in Berkeley : PST. Pacific Standard Time.

27. Went fast : SPED.

28. Bitty : EENY. My thought...LINK.

29. "Nessun dorma," e.g. : ARIA. I never saw this clue until I was doing the write up; as stated it means nothing so...

30. Prefix with scope : ENDO. Endoscopy is a very important tool in modern medicine.

33. Race : RUN.

34. Quelques-__: a few, in French : UNES. If you do not speak French this is difficult.

36. "__ boy!" : ATTA.

37. Females : SHES.

38. Period : TERM.

41. Like L vis-à-vis XL, in some cases : LARGER. Did you size this one up?

43. Set the pace : LED. In the race...

44. Widespread : RAMPANT.

46. Bivalve at a bar : OYSTER. I spent way too much time trying to come up with the punch line to, " A bivalve burrowed in to an oyster bar...."

48. Nine to five, e.g. : SHIFT.

49. Spud : TATER.

50. Posh : RITZY.

51. Looks at in a bad way? : OGLES. Okay this matches with 57A. Revealing attire : MINI. LINK.

52. Rome's Fontana di __ : TREVI. This has appeared in many movies.

56. Is indebted to : OWES.

58. Social climbers? : ANTS. More like anti-social.

59. "__ Rhythm" : I GOT.. This was one of the musicals my sons appeared in during high school.

62. Pub offering : ALE.

63. Frothy quaff : NOG. Frothy? RECIPE.

Well another Friday in the record books; I found it very doable but YMMV. Have a great week end and then get ready for Father's Day and the U.S. Open without Phil, who will be at his daughter's high school graduation. Thanks David.

Note from C.C.:

Here are a few pictures of Lemonade's beautiful granddaughters Charlotte and Harper. You can also click here for all the Charlotte/Harper pictures we've shown on our blog. I smile every time I look at that lemonade stand.

Charlotte 2017 Dance Recital

Harper Does Slow Down

The Girls 2016

The Girls, June 2017

Thursday, June 8 2017 Jeffrey Wechsler

Theme: Cervantes Shout-Out - all the theme answers are connected by the protagonist in Miguel's two-part classic novel "El ingenioso hidalgo don Quixote de la Mancha"

17A. 60-Across' noble status : KNIGHTHOOD. Possibly self-appointed though.

24A. 60-Across' home : LA MANCHA. "Somewhere in La Mancha in a place I do not care to remember ..."

49A. 60-Across' beloved : DULCINEA. "... her neck alabaster, her bosom marble, her hands ivory ..."

60A. Classic character whose exploits inspired the phrase in this puzzle's circles : DON QUIXOTE

Here he is doing that very thing:

Buenos dias! Jeffrey takes us on a literary tour with his theme, and nicely done. Four solid theme entries and a 15-letter diagonal grid-spanner gives the puzzle a nice structure. Two pairs of 9's in the downs underpin a really nice construction. I basically solved this in an anti-clockwise direction finishing up with HANES.

In a fun coincidence, Terry Gilliam, the ex-Monty Python actor and noted film director, announced on Tuesday that he had finally finished his Don Quixote movie, which was 17 years in the making and was such a disastrous production that the attempts to make it were themselves the subject of a documentary. Here's the full tale, courtesy of The Guardian newspaper.

Across:

1. Sting, essentially : TRAP.

5. Wingding : BASH. Or one of the symbols in the Wingdings font in Microsoft Word.

9. Word often improperly punctuated : ITS. Drives me nuts. It's, its. Use the mnemonic "It's an apostrophe" if you're not sure.

12. Small stream : RILL

13. Satellite radio giant : SIRIUS. It's actually SiriusXM. Not sure I like the clue.

15. "__ lied" : SO I

16. Jackie Robinson Stadium sch. team : UCLA. You can see the field from the 405 freeway in Westwood.

19. "Bother someone else!" : SCAT!

20. Footnote term : IDEM. "The same" to reference a previously-cited source.

21. Collagist's supply : PASTE. This didn't come easily. Pasting collage materials onto the work.

22. Musical impediment : TIN EAR

26. Well-suited : APT

27. "O god of battles! __ my soldiers' hearts": Henry V : STEEL. I tried STILL first, and then realized that's probably not what Henry would want to happen to his army.

28. Be obstreperous : ACT UP

31. White House section : WING

34. Bunch : SLEW

36. See 42-Down : D'OR. Just to annoy the cross-reference dislikers even more, this two-parter even comes out of order. I've never heard of the opera, but high school French lessons rendered the translation without any great effort.

37. Bringers of great relief : SAVIORS

40. Spanish pronoun : ESO

41. ESPN's Hershiser : OREL

43. Johnny who was the last pitcher to face Babe Ruth : SAIN. The Boston Braves didn't have much depth in pitching, hence "Spahn and Sain and pray for rain".

First we'll use Spahn

then we'll use Sain

Then an off day

followed by rain

Back will come Spahn

followed by Sain

And followed

we hope

by two days of rain.

44. Catcher on the ranch : LASSO

46. Thinks : DEEMS

48. Racket : DIN

52. "Turn up the thermostat!" : I'M COLD!

56. Hunter on high : ORION. One of the more recognizable constellations.

57. Wolverine, for one : X-MAN

59. Hipbone prefix : ILIO-

62. Some annexes : ELLS

63. Santana's "__ Como Va" : OYE. First recorded by Tito Puente back in 1963. Carlos' version is the best known.

64. Hurries : SCOOTS

65. Khartoum waterway : NILE

66. Sautéing sound : SSS

67. Top 500? : INDY. Nice clue. King of the 500-lap races, the Indianapolis 500.

68. Hole starters : TEES

Down:

1. Many a charitable organization : TRUST

2. "The Addams Family" film actress : RICCI. Christina Ricci played Wednesday Addams.

3. Macabre fiction middle name : ALLAN. Edgar Poe.

4. Almost all of Tibet : PLATEAU. The bit of Tibet that isn't on the plateau is decidedly hilly. Or Himalayan, if you prefer.

5. Tight spot : BIND

6. Disney mermaid : ARIEL. I always hesitate deciding between an E and an A.

7. Summation symbol in math : SIGMA

8. "Come again?" : HUH?

9. Like some triangles : ISOSCELES. Took me a couple of cracks to spell this correctly.

10. Ineffective : TOOTHLESS. Dentist visit today. I hope I don't come back in this condition.

11. Record half : SIDE A

13. Part of a Girl Scout uniform : SKIRT. Really? Can't they wear shorts?

14. Mar. honoree : ST. PAT. St. Patrick more formally. NEVER St. Patty.

18. Playtex sister brand : HANES. News to me.

23. They run on cells : APPS. Cellphones. Tricky little clue.

25. Catholic title: Abbr. : MSGR. Monsignor. Big cheeses, but not as big cheeses as the cardinals or the Pope.

28. Fuss : ADO

29. Pants with texture : CORDUROYS. It's not from "Corde du Roi", contrary to popular opinion.

30. Natural boundaries : TREELINES

31. One of two states formed during the U.S. Civil War : W. VA. I didn't need crosses for this. Yay me!

32. Sundial marking : III. I never understand why VIII is allowed on clocks and sundials, because it breaks the roman numeral rules. It should be IIX.

33. Payment beginning? : NON-

35. Try to win : WOO

38. Gp. with common interests : ASSN.

39. Long, as odds : SLIM

42. With 36-Across, French title of a Rimsky-Korsakov opera that translates to "The Golden Rooster" : LE COQ. Here's a bottle of pineau, an aperitif  from the Cognac region of France.

45. __ history : ANCIENT

47. Without : MINUS

48. Eats well : DINES

49. Extinct birds : DODOS

50. Half a 1999 gas merger : EXXON. Merged with Mobil. The deal was announced in 1998, but closed in 1999.

51. In __: sullen : A MOOD. What if you're in a good mood? Can't you be "in a mood" and happy?

53. Stan's partner : OLLIE

54. De Gaulle's birthplace : LILLE. Nice place, close to the Belgian border.

55. Prescription indications : DOSES

58. DOJ employee : ATTY.

61. Here, in Le Havre : ICI. Quite a bit of French today.

Fin. C'est tout, mes amis!

Étienne

Notes from C.C.: 

 

The Sixth Minnesota Crossword Tournament will be held at the beautiful Landmark Center in Saint Paul on Sunday, June 11, 2017. 

Constructors include our puzzle master Jeffrey Jeffrey Wechsler, Christopher Adams, George Barany, Victor Barocas (also our editor), David Hanson, Andy Kravis, Mark McClain, Andrea Carla Michaels, David Liben-Nowell, Tom Pepper and Andrew J. Ries.

Jeffrey is  flying to St. Paul again this year to help the tournament. Thank you so much, Jeffrey, you're the best!