Today we celebrate a holiday that will be met with, uh, great gusto at our little literary popsicle stand here: National Beer Day. Ales and beers of all description populate our puzzles and discourse. I don't imbibe but will raise an imaginary glass to you on this sudsy holiday! Salut, Cheers, Skol, L'Chaim, Here's mud in yer eye!
Today's constructor is Michael Ashley. I blogged his last puzzle here on September 15 which of course was another themeless marvel and this is what I found out about Michael that day: I lived nearly 20 years in Manhattan, New York, and have now lived with my wife and two children in Scottsdale, Arizona, since 1993. Besides being a maniacal online chess buff, in my spare time I dabble at another sport which, on my better days, strongly resembles golf.
Across:
1. "Grab that guy!": SEIZE HIM - A 1965 Lee Faulk Book Guild Poster of Prince Valiant on the lam!
9. Indonesian dyed fabrics: BATIKS - I was so surprised how quickly I wrote in this word
15. Speaking to a TV audience, say: ON CAMERA.
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| Hey, it's great to be here at the LA Times Crossword Blog today! |
17. Ultimate degree: NTH POWER 9n = 3 - Math peeps will know what NTH POWER of 9 makes this true
18. Pick up: NEATEN
19. Urgent event: CRISIS - The one that leaps to my mind
21. Agitated states: STEWS - The state Americans were in during the CRISIS above
22. Only driver to win Indy and Le Mans in the same year: A.J. FOYT - Number 14 at Indy and Number 1 at the 24 hours of Le Mans which he won with co-driver Dan Gurney in 1967
25. 2017 NLDS player: NAT - Washington NATional
27. Gaelic tongue: ERSE - Bobby Burns in Gaelic and translated on this beer day: `O gude ale comes and gude ale goes; Gude ale gars me sell my hose, Sell my hose, and pawn my shoon – Gude ale keeps my heart aboon!''
`O good ale comes and good ale goes; good ale makes me sell my hose (stockings), Sell my hose and pawn my shoes – Good ale keeps my heart afloat!'')
28. School closing?: MARM - A SCHOOLMARM circa 1890
29. Link with: TIE TO.
31. Music with expressive lyrics: EMO.
32. Offering from your server: E-MAIL
34. Corn containers: CRIBS - The ones around here are all slowly wasting away, having been supplanted by silos and bins
36. Malamute pair?: EMS - MalaMute - Yup!
38. Principal aluminum ore: BAUXITE - Mining BAUXITE in India
40. Habitual surfer: NETIZEN - A citizen of the net, sometimes to excess. Who me?
42. Red Cross provision: AID.
43. California's __ Beach: PISMO - A clam diggers paradise
45. Mississippi river to the Mississippi River: YAZOO - A fiendishly clever clue that refers to the YAZOO River IN Mississippi that empties INTO the Mississippi River just above Vicksburg
46. Green target: CUP - It's that 4" receptacle that we golfers stew about trying to get the ball to drop into
48. Besmirch: TAINT - The TAINT of steroids made these home run records suspect. McGwire did 52. Cop to: OWN his usage but Sammy has 't yet
50. Single-channel: MONO - MONOaural and not stereo
51. Stock trader's option: CALL - If you really want to know about Puts and CALLS
53. Put down: ABASED.
55. Real estate basics: AREAS - This 1395 sq. ft. house would fetch well less than half this price in my AREA
57. Title for Versace: SIGNOR - SIGNOR Versace is one of those single-named people for whom SIGNOR is usually omitted
59. Pressured, in a way: DUNNED - In this scene from Godfather II, a young Vito Corleone is being DUNNED for a cut of a robbery by Don Fanucci. Suffice it to say it did not work out well for SIGNOR Fanucci.
61. Defies all logic: CAN NOT BE - Recently I posted John McEnroe screaming "You CAN NOT BE serious!"
65. Ran the show: EMCEED - I just got a very gracious note from a band director for a show I EMCEED a month ago.
66. Service companies: AGENCIES - My Sister-In-Law has spent years helping in a local AGENCY that helps abused women
67. Fly to flee: TSE TSE
68. Ashley's twin: MARY KATE - Here is a 24 second voice-over they did on The Simpsons
Down:
1. Family business partner: SON - e.g. Sanford and SON
2. Fangorn Forest dweller: ENT - ENTs are tree-like creatures that are found in the Fangorn Forest in JRR Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings. You can buy some sculptures of them online.
3. Goethe's "I": ICH - ICH liebe dich is the only German phrase I know and I bet you know it too!
4. 1960s pioneer in countercultural strips: ZAP COMIX - They came around in the late '60's when I was diverting my comic book money to groceries for my family
5. Atlanta university: EMORY - Founded in 1836 in Oxford, GA
6. "60 Minutes" creator Don: HEWITT - Don and the boys
7. Angers: IRES.
8. Venus probe craft: MARINER - In 1962, MARINER 2 became to the first spacecraft to reach another planet and today orbits the Sun9. Rock's Harper or Folds: BEN - On Saturday you get singers BEN Harper and BEN Folds not BEN Franklin and Uncle BEN
10. Forum greetings: AVES.
11. Just right: TO A TEE - My blogging fits my meager skills TO A TEE
12. Brahms piano pieces: INTERMEZZOS - Originally pieces written to fill in between acts of a play or movements of larger musical works. Brahms wrote his as stand alone creations. Yeah, I knew that! 😏
13. Had an in: KNEW SOMEONE - How to get work in some institutions
14. Intuit: SENSE - Women can intuit/SENSE things better than men as far as I am concerned
20. Attended casually: SAT IN ON - Woody Allen SAT IN ON (WITH) The Eddy Davis New Orleans Jazz Band at the Cafe Carlyle in NY
22. Microscopic specimen: AMEBA.
23. Island spirits: JAMAICA RUMS - Hey! This is beer day!
24. Deceit: FRAUDULENCE - Wanna learn how to practice FRAUDULENCE? Google this video
26. Hamlet's first choice: TO BE - or not TO BE
30. Sharp winter tools: ICE SAWS - Those blocks the iceman brought had to originate from somewhere
33. Rim: LIP - A Rim out or a LIP out
35. Home near a cote, perhaps: STY - Here is a oil painting entitled A French Sheep COTE which could be near a pig STY
37. Hair net: SNOOD - A bi-level SNOOD
39. Former Yugoslav leader: TITO.
41. Final cut on the "Sounds of Silence" album: I AM A ROCK - An anthem for isolation and emotional detachment
44. A luge driver might wear one: MINICAM - 1:14 of insanity
47. Revolver?: PLANET - Yes, kids, Planets revolve as they rotate around the Sun
49. 1977 Australian Open winner Roscoe: TANNER.
51. VMI student: CADET - VMI first admitted women in 1997
54. Like a pretty lass: BONNY.
56. Matches in Hold 'em: SEES - Same as calling a poker bet
58. Lady of song: GAGA - In the latest iteration of this movie, Lady GAGA has received good reviews for her acting and great ones for her voice
60. '50s ticket initials: DDE.
62. __ Maria: TIA - Aunt Maria - A dark liquor whose main flavor ingredients are coffee beans, Jamaican rum, vanilla, and sugar, blended to an alcoholic content of 20%.
63. One might be made on the nose: BET - A BET for a horse to win a race
64. Canton ending: ESE - Find it below?
Now before you hoist up a stein, tankard, glass or can, how 'bout a comment:
DA GRID
Notes from C.C.:
Happy 71st birthday to Boomer, the sun of my life! This picture was taken on August 22, 2014 when Gary and his wife Joann visited Minneapolis.
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| Left to Right: Boomer, Gary, CC & Joann |
