Sunday July 9th, 2017 John Lampkin

Theme: "Cereal Boxes"- Different grains bookend each theme entry.

25A *Lids for a fancy box? : OPERA HATS. Oats. English is strange. Oats are always plural, but not other grains.

27A. *Easy order for a mixologist : WHISKEY NEAT. Wheat.

39A. *Ceremonious choreography : RITUAL DANCE. Rice. Have any of you cumin rice?

42A. *Lothario's organ : ROVING EYE. Rye.

65. *Ring leaders : BARNUM AND BAILEY. Barley.

88A. *Joe may come from one : COFFEE URN. Corn.

91A. *Moved like a crowd : MILLED ABOUT. Millet. I just mentioned to TTP yesterday that no matter how I try, my millet porridge is never as good as my grandma's.

106A. *Significant other : MAIN SQUEEZE. Maize. Isn't it the same as corn?

Reveal:

110. Deep-rooted ... and what the uncircled letters of the answers to starred clues are? : INGRAINED

John's set is close to complete. Sorghum is unworkable, hence its absence. It's actually gluten-free, like oats, millet, corn & rice. I never had it, but many of the pricey liquors in China are made of Sorghum.

John broke with the convention and started his themers in Row 4 rather than Row 3. I'm guessing he tried Row 3 but did not like the result.

Lots of playful clues/fill, PYROMANIAC (73D. One who remembers old flames with fondness) is my favorite. It sums up John's style perfectly.

Across:     

1. Hunk : GLOB. Thought of STUD.

5. Tortilla-wrapped serving : FAJITA. You won't like this if you don't like cumin.

11. Hardly a haymaker : JAB. Boxing punch.

14. Pulled up a chair : SAT

17. Whom Samwise accompanied to Rivendell : FRODO

18. Backspace key, often : ERASER

19. One who might err on the safe side? : UMP. Nailed it.

20. __ dixit: assertion without proof : IPSE

21. Add zing to : LIVEN. 29. Zing : PEP

22. Berate : RANT AT

23. "Heavens!" : GOODNESS!

30. Donizetti aria "Regnava __ silenzio" : NEL. This is clued as [First word in Dante's "Inferno"] last Sunday.

31. Bee bunch : SWARM

33. Watergate figure with a radio talk show : LIDDY. G. Gordon Liddy.

34. Exude : OOZE. It's great to see your previous avatar, Yellowrocks!

36. Learn : HEAR OF

37. Giant __, world's largest antelope : ELAND. Learning moment for me. Hello!

46. Bearded blossom : IRIS

47. G, in the key of C : SOL. Got via crosses.

48. Adjust, as a chronometer : RESET

49. Tat misreadable as WOW : MOM. Tattoo.

50. Honey : TOOTS. Chinese are quite reserved, not many "sweet" words. "Respect" trumps all. 

52. Tweaks : MODIFIES

56. "Is this some kind of __?" : A JOKE

58. New England cape : ANN

59. __ chi : TAI

61. Biting : ACID

62. "Good-bye, cruel world!," in Westerns : I'M A GONER

68. Worldwide anticrime gp. : INTERPOL. Currently headed by a Chinese.
 

71. Rod's partner : REEL

72. Author Deighton : LEN

73. Bench press muscle : PEC

76. Ethel on "I Love Lucy" : MERTZ. So many "I Love Lucy" collectibles at the flea market.

77. Produce a steady stream of : CHURN OUT

80. Words with remember or forget : TRY TO.  We also have 48. Word with debt or guilt : RIDDEN. 56. Bond or bonding follower : AGENT. Playfulness & originality!

82. Bon __: Comet rival : AMI

83. "__ the loneliest number" : ONE IS

85. "Argo" org. : CIA

87. Fine __ : ARTS

 95. Crease-resistant fabric : ORLON

96. Estefan with Grammys : GLORIA

98. Consider to be : DEEM

99. Steel, e.g. : ALLOY. Not METAL.We also have 40. Metal that's pumped : IRON

101. Form opener : LINE A

102. Key preposition : O'ER. Francis Scott Key

103. Boxer with feats of Clay? : ALI. Cute.

113. Rank people? : AMATEURS. Another great clue.

114. Swab's assent : AYE SIR. Normally with two Ayes, right?

116. Blink of an eye : TRICE

117. D.C. pros : NATS

118. Cleo's undoing : ASP

119. Fix, as a pump : RE-SOLE

120. Former Midwest territorial capital : OMAHA. Another learning moment for me, Gary!

121. Is for you : ARE

122. Steely __ : DAN

123. Airborne camera holders : DRONES. Used by quite a few YouTubers.

124. Many a competition : RACE

Down:

1. Bone to pick : GRIPE

2. Fictional turn-on : LOVE POTION. Hey, this is even organic.

3. Smelly-sounding German river? : ODER. Odor.

4. Windfall : BONANZA. Great word.

5. Wild : FERAL

6. Smell __ : A RAT

7. Fugitive portrayer before Ford : JANSSEN (David). I've only seen Harrison Ford's movie.

8. Believer's suffix : IST

9. Pots, cups, etc. : TEAWARE

10. Prefix with -pod : ARTHRO. Prefix for "Joint".

11. Handled containers : JUGS

12. Every which way : AMOK

13. Fraternal initials : BPOE

14. Leadfoot : SPEED DEMON. So what's the plural for "Leadfoot"? Leadfoots or Leadfeet?

15. Syrian president : ASSAD

16. Touchy : TESTY

17. Bomb : FLOP

20. Baseball unit with distinct halves : INNING

24. Musician with a Nobel Prize : DYLAN. Pride of Minnesota. I had a lovely walk around Lake Harriet with Andrea Carla Michaels last week. Another Pride of Minnesota. Then another long walk with Boomer in our favorite trail on June 30, D-Otto, followed by buying a rice bowl like this in our local Asian store. I think I want one more. Really like the dragon at the bottom.

26. Bread butts : HEELS

28. The Who classic : I'M FREE. Got via crosses.

32. Female in WWII : WAC. Women's Army Corps. Do you still remember Southern Belle? She was a WAC during the Korean War. She used to comment regularly.

35. Boot from power : OUST

36. Heavenly topper : HALO

37. Original sinner : EVE

38. Fired up : LIT

39. Dexter's wife in "Dexter" : RITA. Easily obtainable,

 41. __ effect : DOMINO. Not RIPPLE.

43. Alternate version, in scores : OSSIA. Unknown to me. You'd think it's related to bone.

44. Farm connection : YOKE. Farm animal.

45. ER part: Abbr. : EMER

51. HBO rival : STARZ

53. Beaver's work : DAM

54. Victim of hot wings? : ICARUS. Another great clue/fill.

55. More classy : FINER

57. Delight : JOY. I linked Amy at Costco clip a years ago when "Call Me Maybe" was hot. Which song do you like the best?

60. Dada daddy? : ARP (Jean). Dada co-founder.

63. "Uncle" of old TV : MILTIE

64. Flagon filler : ALE. I did not know this is called "Flagon".

65. Risk : BET

66. Peptic problem : ULCER

67. Rain-__ gum : BLO

68. Apple computer : iMAC

69. Nautilus captain : NEMO

70. Like poison ivy : TRIFOLIATE. Having three leaves. Also a new word to me.

74. Shocked accusation : ET TU

75. Outlay : COST

78. Actor Pat of Batman films : HINGLE. Never heard of him.

79. NCAA's Bruins : UCLA

81. Broccoli __ : RABE

83. LBJ's antipoverty agcy. : OEO. Office of Economic Opportunity

84. "The Sound of Music" extra : NUN

86. Calculating snake? : ADDER. Amazing clue.

89. Leads, as a band : FRONTS

90. "Family Ties" mom : ELYSE

91. Ancient Roman currency minter : MONEYER. Guessable.

92. Anger : IRE

93. Go-between : LIAISON

94. Bubbler : AERATOR

97. Gecko, for one : LIZARD. John sent me this fun picture. He said "Costa Rica's Jesus Christ Lizard is supposed to be able to walk on water. This one failed miserably and can’t even open a can of soda without spilling it."

 

99. Dryer brand : AMANA

100. Texas university in Beaumont : LAMAR

102. Fairy tale baddies : OGRES

104. Café con __ : LECHE. Not fond of putting milk in coffee or tea.

105. Thought : IDEA
 
107. Campus area : QUAD

108. Heavenly bear : URSA

109. "Monday Night Football" channel : ESPN

111. Shade of green : NILE

112. Hogwarts librarian __ Pince : IRMA. Gimme for Santa.

115. That thing in Tijuana : ESO

Happy Birthday to dear Tony (AnonT), who's always been so kind and caring to everyone on our blog. He's also a foodie. This picture cracks me up.

 

At Wit's End near Carmel on Father's Day 2017

Saturday, Jul 8th, 2017, Samuel A. Donaldson

Theme: None

Words: 64 (missing J,X,Z)

Blocks: 30

Our last construction from Mr. Donaldson was one co-authored with Brad Wilber in October last year; prior to that, he had a Saturday dating back to 2009.  No hang-ups during the solve for me, a few proper names and some odd 'rare' words, but overall a fun puzzle. Chunky corners, only 4 three-letter words, and a friendly "get-there-from-here" grid which included single nines, paired nines and a couple of 10-letter answers;

30a. Riding in the far-left lane, perhaps : CARPOOLING

Check out the next door neighbor over the fence

37a. Producer who developed "The Jeffersons" : NORMAN LEAR

 EARWORM~!

12d. "No need to be scared of me" : I DON'T BITE - hard.  Or maybe you like being bitten....?

29d. Big storm : NOR'EASTER - where I live today, this type of storm and a full moon could lead to flooding.  Scary.

StO(n)p WA(rd)ffling~!

ACROSS:

1. Gone for the summer, perhaps : AT CAMP - Figured it was school related, and started with AT HOME, which was close

7. Elegant pool entrance : SWAN DIVE - I was thinking we were looking for a noun like 'diving board', not the 'action' of entrance; I had a diving board go out on one of my trucks yesterday - there's no limit to what we will ship these days....

15. Jet Ski competitor : SEA-DOO - I knew SKI-DOO would not fly, but I was close

16. NFLer from 1982-'94 : L.A. RAIDER

17. Trick : TRIP UP

18. Last of Sophocles' Theban plays : ANTIGONE

19. Off-base : ERRANT

20. Post-sunburn phase : PEELING

21. Midway game : RING TOSS - ah, not SKEE BALL

23. Number of hills di Roma : SETTE - knew the answer was "seven", but spelling it was....

24. "30 for 30" documentary series airer : ESPN

25. Touch with gauze : DAB AT

27. They may be fake : TANS - my favorite fake tan look

34. NYSE debut : IPO - New York Stock Exchange, Initial Public Offering

35. "Ciao Italia" chef Esposito : MARYANN - perps

36. Cable co. acquired by AT&T : TCI

39. Ocean hazard : REEF

40. Unalaska native : ALEUT

41. Blocking action : VETO

43. Performs surgery on, in a way : LASES

45. Braised chicken dish : COQ AU VIN - we've seen this before on Saturday

49. Runner with big eggs : OSTRICH

51. Final syllable : ULTIMA

52. Lobster sensors : ANTENNAE

53. Otis of elevators : ELISHA - I did not know his first name - his Wiki

54. Men's department fixtures : TIE RACKS

55. Forwarded : SENT ON

56. Decorative herbs : PARSLEYS - spell check is not happy, but it's OK with me

57. Training aids : TREATS - ah, dogs

DOWN:

1. Michaelmas daisy : ASTER

2. Country singer Gibbs : TERRI - filled via perps

3. Memorial rocks : CAIRN - oops, not STELE

4. Much magazine content : AD PAGES - well, I knew it was AD 'something', or 'something' AD(s), but PAGES took a while

5. Goes up : MOUNTS

6. Coke holder : POP-TOP CAN - "Coke" seems a little too specific - I can get Diet Dr. Pepper in a pop-top can, too - or is the author trying to throw us off with the "gram" type of coke~?

7. High-fives, e.g. : SLAPS

8. Ebb : WANE

9. Crafts in Cancún : ARTES

10. Attached by pounding : NAILED ON - I was close, had NAILED TO

11. Technology catchall : DIGITAL - I'm not a huge fan of all these companies that jumped on the Apple bandwagon and offer their products with "i-something" names; did you hear about Apple's new make-up line~? It's called iShadow.

13. Retaliation : VENGEANCE

14. Word of relative time : ERE - I had ERA, and did not get my "ta-DA~!"

22. Jam : SNARL

26. "What a long week!" : TGIF - Thank God It's already past July 4th, as far as I am concerned

27. Turner of music : TINA

28. Michael Corleone's first wife : APOLLONIA

31. Reuben setting : RYE - ah, had me confused at first

32. Finnish distance runner Nurmi : PAAVO - OK, I cheated - I Googled this answer to get a foothold in the middle

33. For the asking : ON REQUEST

35. __ instinct : MATERNAL

38. Summons (up) : MUSTERS

39. Dancer's program : ROUTINE

42. Like one looking down on his neighbor? : TALLER

44. On account of : SINCE

45. Musical whose plot involves a two-person tournament : CHESS - I had "-HE--", and this seemed like a logical WAG.  The game I conceived went with me again to Delaware last weekend and I worked out the details with Mike as a two-player version; now I need to get some people together and try it with four players

46. Windows 7 precursor : VISTA - I'm still with XP, and content - but Firefox has stopped supporting the software.  Gonna have to cave at some point to the "future"

47. Cry from one on a streak : I'M HOT - also got lessons from Mike on how to really play Texas Hold'em, since he gets out to the Dover casinos once in a while

48. Asian breads : NAANS

50. Like dried mud : CAKY

52. Novak Djokovic's org. : ATP - sounds like a tennis name to me

Splynter

Note from C.C.: 

I'm sad to let you know that Leah (Chickie on our blog) lost her husband Bill on July 6th. Chickie was very active on our blog for many years. She and Bill just celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary last month. You're in our thoughts, Chickie.

Friday, July 7, 2017, Jeffrey Wechsler

Title:   'Ay you, let's switch.

Our Friday maven JW is back. Once again we have a letter switch puzzle, with the resulting fill clued whimsically.  We have five clues where an "A" is replaced with a "U." The initial three have the change in the first word, the remaining two in the second word. All of the new fill are witty - BUNK Robber my favorite and Exhaust FUN the most poignant.  But wait ! There is More, each word has an N after each A/U. It is hard enough to to make a letter substitution work, but to have the consistency of the AN to UN is the cherry on top. I missed it my first time through. With 61 theme squares, JW still manages to include ARTEMIS,  USED CAR, EPITHETS, FORENSIC, SNATCHING and WOOD SCREW to leave a very satisfying grid.

17A. Thief at a sleepaway camp? : BUNK ROBBER (10). The BANK robber downsized.

24A. People who wear "I'm with stupid" T-shirts? : DUNCE PARTNERS (13). Perhaps they will become DANCE Partners.

37A. Fail a jewelry class lesson? : BUNGLE BRACELETS (15). Not my favorite, BANGLE Bracelet while alliterative, just does not excite.

48A. What drives a fashionista? : CLOTHES HUNGER (13). Clothes HANGERS have not changed much in my lifetime.

59A. Run out of amusing things to do? : EXHAUST FUN (10). Every stove has an Exhaust FAN.

I hope you are not too exhausted to move on....

Across: 

1. Itsy-bitsy critter : MITE. Dust mite anyone?

5. Caroler's accoutrement : SCARF. Accoutrement is such a classy word!

10. Farthest from the hole : AWAY. This is for golfers, determining who plays next.

14. Slangy "Got that?" : Y'SEE?  This contraction of 'you see' is in the dictionary now.

15. Izu Islands city : TOKYO. Major learning moment for me. LINK.

16. Soda opener? : COCA. Cola.

19. Red cap? : CORK. Red wine - nice clue.

20. Vivid dye : AZO. The  wiki-chemist says "aryl azo compounds have vivid colors, especially reds, oranges, and yellows. Therefore, they are used as dyes, and are commonly known as azo dyes."

21. Kibbutz entertainment : HORA. The dance.  There are variations.

22. End sections of some Greek poems : EPODES. Epode, a verse form composed of two lines differing in construction and often in meter, the second shorter than the first. In Greek lyric odes, an epode is the third part of the three-part structure of the poem, following the strophe and the antistrophe. The word is from the Greek epōidós, “sung” or “said after.” Sure. Britannica.

27. __ Cruces : LAS. The crosses, Spanish, is located in New Mexico.

28. It may be a lemon : USED CAR. A clear CSO.

31. Lhasa __ : APSO.

34. Range : AMBIT.

36. LP maker : RCA.

41. Bali or Hanes product : BRA. Any other three letter products?

42. Bridge call : I PASS.

43. Boo-boo : OWIE.

44. Deity with bow and arrows : ARTEMIS. The Greek goddess of the hunt, etc. She and Diana are similar but not the SAME. 56A. Superhero with a hammer : THOR. Now we have a Norse god added.

46. Bot., e.g. : SCI.

54. Go over : REHASH.

57. Natural resource : ORE.

58. Tissue box access : SLIT.

62. Forest climber : VINE.

63. Three-time 20-game winner for the '70s Red Sox : TIANT. I will never forget his WINDUP or his STORY.

64. Cried : WEPT.

65. Classifies (as) : PEGS.

66. Trig functions : SINES.

67. Fine things? : ARTS.

Down:

1. "I'm the culprit" : MY BAD. Mea culpa before the millennials came along.

2. Brand once hawked by an eponymous "Joe" : ISUZU. He was a STAR.

3. Joinery element : TENON. Splynter? You agree joinery is the wooden components of a building, such as stairs, doors, and door and window frames, viewed collectively?

4. "I sure don't want that" : EEK. Two weeks in a row.

5. Retrieves dropped keys, say : STOOPS.

6. Hooded snake : COBRA.

7. Mogul emperor, 1556-1605 : AKBAR. Interesting MAN.

8. Bakery offering : RYE. It was rye bread that led to the Salem witch trials.

9. Like "CSI" work : FORENSIC. Which I may have learned from CSI.

10. Agreement : ACCORD.

11. Item in many an IKEA kit : WOOD SCREW.  "Wood screws are better than drywall screws for woodworking projects. Drywall screws are made of hardened, brittle steel, and the shaft will often snap during installation, especially if they're screwed into hardwoods."

12. Lot division : ACRE. There are 640 acres in a Section, but most lots are smaller than an acre.

13. Shoots the breeze : YAKS.

18. Carla portrayer on "Cheers" : RHEA.

23. Actress/author Holly Robinson __ : PEETE. Ex-Detroit Lion QB Rodney Peete's wife.
RODNEY did not have a great career, but he found a great WIFE.

25. Obstruct : CLOG.

26. Marching band section : TUBAS.

29. When "Kansas City" is sung in "Oklahoma!" : ACT I.

30. Knock down, in Nottingham : RASE. The British spelling of the word we spell raze.

31. "SOS" group : ABBA.

32. Run smoothly : PURR.

33. Pickpocket's activity : SNATCHING. Actually it seems more like stealing to me.

34. Humiliate : ABASH.

35. Union address? : MRS. Fun clue/fill.

38. Oscar night arrivals : LIMOS.

39. Peter the Great et al. : EPITHETS. They are not always nice, the Terrible, the Mad etc.

40. Butcher's offering : LOIN.

45. Brings great pleasure to : ELATES.

46. Shows anger, maybe : SHOUTS.

47. Ornery sorts : CURS.

49. Vermont patriot Allen : ETHAN. More famous for his furniture.

50. Oscar-nominated western : SHANE. Alan Ladd was 5'4" I am told.

51. Menial assistant : GOFER.

52. Blow : ERUPT.

53. Flat fees : RENTS. Pun on British word for apartment.

54. "I'll be there" message, e.g. : RSVP.

55. Author Wiesel : ELIE.

60. Number on old dials : XII.

61. BOAC competitor : TWA. They both are gone.

We are in the good old summer time; hope you all had a fun day on the 4th. It feels right to have Jeffrey back in the Friday saddle.  Thank you all for tuning in; see you next week gwatcdr.
Lemonade out.

Thursday July 6th 2017 Pawel Fludzinski

Theme: Love Thy Neighbor - The neighboring states are so close that they're practically sitting in each other's lap, as the reveal neatly sums up:

47A. What the answers to three "pair" clues share, both in this grid and in reality : STATE BORDERS

19A. Midwestern pair : NEBRASKANSAS

26A. Northeastern pair : MAINEWHAMPSHIRE

42A. Southwestern pair : NEWMEXICOLORADO

Nice puzzle from Pawel. I tumbled the theme after seeing COLORADO emerging from the crosses and things were pretty plain sailing after that. A very clean grid with the two pairs of stacked 9's and a lot of solid white areas. The fill had some really nice stuff - those aforementioned 9's and some tricky partials in the downs.

Let's see what jumps out:

Across:

1. Many opera villains : BASSI. Really deep-voiced. I can spoof a basso profundo speaking voice, but as I can't sing a note that's about as far as I get. I have to channel my inner Paul Robeson. Come back and watch this great piece of history from 1949.

6. Georgia __ : TECH

10. '70s Israeli prime minister : MEIR

14. Ration out : ALLOT.

15. Antioxidant-rich fruit in smoothies : ACAI BERRY. Goji berries fit the bill too, so you need to wait for the crosses.

17. Some earrings : HOOPS

18. Celestial explosion : SUPERNOVA. This was a tough corner. If you don't know MEIR, I'm not sure you'd be able to unpick the triple three-letter downs.

21. Japanese prime minister since 2012 : ABE. Shinzo. Is he "honest" too?

22. Cold War weapons : ICBMS. Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles. They pack quite an unpleasant punch.

33. Ready followers? : OR NOT. I tried SET-GO first, which caused some problems later.

34. Jumper cable connection : ANODE

35. Did lunch, say : ATE

36. Morse clicks : DITS. D--S and wait for the crosses.

37. Fly catchers : MITTS. Nice one. Fly ball in baseball. Some of the catches can be pretty spectacular:

38. Corp. money execs : C.F.O.S

39. Puerto Rican pronoun : ESO. That.

40. Bandleader's cry : HIT IT!

41. Ring figure? : CARAT. Nice.

45. Queen __ lace : ANNE'S. Also known as the wild carrot. The roots, leaves and flowers are all edible. I'll leave the eats, roots, leave humor to the peanut gallery, tempted as I am.

46. Lode load : ORE

55. Soldier of Fortune subject : MERCENARY

58. D-sharp equivalent : E FLAT

59. Grifter : CON ARTIST. Do any of you watch the "Cooks vs. Cons" on the Food Network? I enjoy the show, but have you noticed that most of the "pros" who lose out are personal chefs, not restaurant chefs? Big difference in standards. One of the winning contestants who had me totally fooled appeared in one of the early episodes - she was French, and turned out to be a barber in New York City.

60. __ del Sol : COSTA. On the Spanish Mediterranean. One of my favorite soccer players, Diego Costa, looks like he might be leaving my club Chelsea, and returning to his old one, Atletico Madrid. Hasta luego, y gracias Diego! Of course, there's also this:

61. Prepare for mailing : SEAL

62. On the less windy side : ALEE. I learned the lesson early - if you're at sea and you experience what is kindly known as reverse peristalsis, then you'd better be on this side of the ship when you start to feed the fishes.

63. Woods components : TREES

Down:

1. Automobil route : BAHN. It can also be a rail route: Deutsche Bahn AG is the company that operates Germany's rail networks, among others.

2. Healing salve : ALOE

3. Frustrating roommate for a neatnik : SLOB

4. Many opera heroines : SOPRANOS. Nice tie-in with BASSI at the top.

5. "I'll take that action" : IT'S A BET

6. Checklist item : TASK

7. Galápagos locale: Abbr. : ECUA. Ecuador. I stumbled around here a little, I tried AGUA which caused me some confusion for a while, and made no sense whatsoever given that we are told we need an abbreviation.

8. Bos'n's boss : CAP'N

9. Hustles : HIES

10. Stand-up sort : MENSCH

11. Mancinelli opera "__ e Leandro" : ERO This trilogy at 11D, 12D and 13D would have been a total bust for me if I didn't know Golda MEIR. I'd have WAG'ed at ARO, ERV and NO IDEA which would have left me looking at MAE-

12. Robbins of Baskin-Robbins : IRV

13. Shaggy Scandinavian rug : RYA

16. Slow-cook, in a way : BRAISE

20. Give a darn? : SEW

23. Former African secessionist territory : BIAFRA

24. "The Wind in the Willows" character : MR. TOAD. It's a fun book. I never understood how Mr. Toad could escape from jail, go home to reclaim Toad Hall, and the police never bothered to come over and pick him up.

25. Handles : SEES TO

26. Italian headquarters of Maserati : MODENA. Also Ferrari's HQ. Lamborghini had a factory there too, but forget all about that. Balsamic vinegar! Yay!

27. Out of the sack : ARISEN

28. Around, so to speak : IN TOWN

29. French-speaking republic : HAITI

30. Escapade : ANTIC

31. "Crossroads of America" in Indiana, e.g. : MOTTO

32. Law-and-order gps. : P.D.S Police Departments.

37. Pancake-making aid : MIX.

38. Nurtured : CARED FOR

40. Mother of Pearl, in an 1850 novel : HESTER. Hester Prynne, in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter".

41. PC part? : CORRECT

43. Cantina quaff : MESCAL

44. Head of England? : LOO

48. Masonry support : ANTA. The support between the pillar and the roof. Here's one at the Athenian Treasury:

49. Word with coat or shirt : TAIL.I still have my tailcoat, formal wedding-wear in the UK. I haven't worn it for 30-odd years though.

50. Gaelic tongue : ERSE

51. Bunch of bits : BYTE. Nice

52. "What __ could I say?" : ELSE

53. Evaluate : RATE

54. D.C. Metro stops : STAS. Stations on the Washington D.C. transit.

55. Escher and Hammer : M.C.S. The rapper and the graphic artist come together harmoniously.

56. Fair-hiring letters : EOE Equal Opportunity Employer.

57. Protein-building molecule : RNA

I've been in San Antonio for a couple of days and went to check out the Alamo. Everyone tells you it's not as big as you expect and they're right!

Here's the grid, and I'm heading out to the airport!

Steve

Note from C.C..:

Here are three sweet pictures of Bill G's new granddaughter Bella. Bill said she is about 5 weeks old now.

Wednesday, July 5, 2017, Agnes Davidson and C.C. Burnikel

TITLE: NOT HITTING ON ALL CYLINDERS

Husker Gary here reporting for the fifth time on work by the construction firm of Davidson and Burnikel. Our Irish Miss and C.C. have a two-level w/circles type of exercise today as you can see below. 

They placed the  word ILL in circles under three types of weather precipitation phenomena.  But wait, there's more! Neither the literal meanings of the word ILL nor the actual meteorological  use of the weather event were part of the theme fills. Land O' Goshen, that's makes for a fun Wednesday exercise!

My search for their devious gimmick was futile until I got the reveal at:

64. Not up to par ... or, aptly, what this puzzle's circled letters are : UNDER THE WEATHER which could also be shown in Wacky Wordie style (*solution to this at the bottom of the write-up)

I'll send out a persona "atta boy"/"atta girl" who got the theme without the circles

Theme answers:

20. Warble : TRILL UNDER 17. Overindulge (someone) at birthday time : SHOWER WITH GIFTS - GIFTS SHOWERED upon Kim Kardashian and her pending event of giving birth 

39. Nabisco snack brand : NILLA UNDER 34. Last-ditch gridiron pass : HAIL MARY - The Huskers beat Northwestern on this fabulous HAIL MARY pass from Ron Kellogg III to Illinois native Jordan Westerkamp 

50. Road incline : HILL UNDER 45. "I'm Moving On" country singer : HANK SNOW - Check out one of his opening acts who is billed with Onie Wheeler but below Slim Whitman

Now let's see what else these two fine ladies have "rained down" on us today:


Across

1. Go straight to the top? : PRAY - Sorry son, I don't think any deity really cares...

5. Crawling carpenters : ANTS - A $4 tube of MaxForce in a syringe got rid of ours

9. Made into a bundle : BALED - Round and rectangular BALES are now "high art" here on the prairie. 

14. Sport for the supersized : SUMO - Marie Osmond won't sell much product to them

15. "Unfaithful" co-star Richard : GERE

16. Join forces : UNITE

21. Figuratively : SO TO SPEAK

22. Circular power tool : SAW

24. Tarzan player Ron : ELY

25. Tetra- times two : OCTA


29. Set one's sights on, with "at" : AIMED - I love this cartoon about Lewis Grizzard's Hilarious book

31. "So long!" : BYE

36. Periodic pay : SALARY

40. And so on: Abbr. : ETC

42. Avant-garde jazzman who named himself after an Egyptian god : SUNRA - Right after I finished this puzzle, I googled this man because all the perps fit. It's amazing how few avant-garde jazz people I know

43. Country Style Steak Fries maker : OREIDA - Anybody got that phone # for Marie Osmond?

47. Pindar work : ODE - Not familiar with this Grecian odeist/odician/odeaphile... 

48. Charlotte __: creamy dessert : RUSSE

51. Permit : LET

52. Crumpets companion : TEA

54. Head honcho : TOP BANANA - George always acknowledged that Gracie was the TOP BANANA in this act

59. Starbucks flavor : MOCHA

66. Send (to) for a second opinion : REFER - George often REFERRED to Gracie as job security 

67. Steal, for slate: Abbr. : ANAG - ANAGRAM of each other

68. Lemon-like : TART

69. Like ogres : NASTY  - Fiona saw that that was not true!

70. "So Sick" R&B singer : NEYO - A artist who thinks lyrics today are too misogynistic 

71. Ironically, they might be even : ODDS


Down

1. Sibilant "Yo!" : PSST - Oh, sibilant refers to hissing not my siblings

2. River to the Rhine : RUHR

3. Mine, in Metz : AMOI

4. Pained cry : YOWL

5. Dept. concerned with rural development : AGR

6. Reuters, for one : NEWS WIRE - Originally named for when NEWS was transmitted literally over a telegraph, telephone or telex WIRE

7. Folk's Kingston __ : TRIO - Is your favorite on here?

8. Couch kin : SETTEE

9. Mobster Siegel : BUGSY - “My friends call me Ben,” he once said, “strangers call me Mr. Siegel, and guys I don’t like call me Bugsy, but not to my face.”

10. Had __: imbibed modestly : A NIP

11. Longest sentence : LIFE

12. Bluesy James : ETTA

13. Work at it : DESK

18. Trains over the street : ELS - Some say the car chase under the ELS in The French Connection was the best car chase ever

19. Ship storage areas : HOLDS

23. Designation for batteries, bonds or baseball teams : AAA - The first two might be more obvious than the last one where the Omaha Storm Chasers are this

 

25. "I can't believe it!" : OH NO

26. Egyptian capital : CAIRO - If you look closely in the lower left hand corner you can see what capital is spent in Egypt's, uh, capital

27. Like many floors : TILED

28. Kate's TV sidekick : ALLIE

30. Nessie and Bigfoot, by most accounts : MYTHS - and Ogres?

31. Get red in the face : BLUSH

32. New Age composer : YANNI - Please, no more YANNI!

33. Flynn of film : ERROL

35. Irate : MAD

37. Question : ASK

38. Two-masted boat : YAWL

41. Robinson Crusoe, notably : CASTAWAY - For the role in CASTAWAY, Tom Hanks shot the first part of the movie and then took a year off to lose 55 lbs. and finish shooting

44. "__ we all?" : AREN'T

46. Society page word : NEE

49. Pioneer Day celebrant : UTAHAN

51. King or Bird : LARRY

53. Physicians' org. : AMA

54. Go sour : TURN - Isn't this what you think of?

55. Draft designation : ONE-A

56. Some email attachments : PDF'S

57. Root often pickled : BEET - People seem to love 'em or hate 'em. I'm in the former camp, you?

58. Aloha State bird : NENE

60. Germany's von Bismarck : OTTO

61. African lake in four countries : CHAD - I couldn't name the other three countries either

62. Cattle collection : HERD

63. Music and dance, e.g. : ARTS

65. Freudian focus : EGO

* FEELING is literally UNDER WEATHER, hence FEELING UNDER the WEATHER 

Those of you who feel up to should now give us your opinion!