Sunday Dec 3, 2017 Nora Pearlstone

Theme:  "Movers"- Parse it as Move-Rs. Letter R's are moved backwards.

 

23A. Screwballs in the hayloft? : BARN FLAKES. Bran flakes. Notice in each original phrase, letter R is the second letter? Very consistent.

25A. Where crooks learn their trade? : PERP SCHOOL. Prep school.

43A. Cookie cooks? : DISC BAKERS. Disc brakes. Oh, this reminds me of Anon-T and his Pizzelle.

83A. Dealt with unproductive mollusks? : FIRED CLAMS. Fried clams.

   

102A. Restaurant reservation for fish? : CARP'S TABLE. Craps table. Boomer's encounter with Dr. J happened at a craps table in the old Stardust in Vegas.

104A. Result of Uncle Sam frequenting Papa John's? : PIZZA BEARD. Funny image. Pizza bread.

36D. Like surfers? : BOARD-MINDED. Broad-minded.

39D. Group of body shop specialists? : BUMPER CORPS. Bumper crops. Tiny stray R in BUMPER.

Nora Pearlstone is the alias name of Rich Norris, anagram of "Not a Real Person". See here for a full list of the alias names Rich uses. 

Always a treat when Rich makes a puzzle. These days he's very busy editing the LA Times crosswords. Prior to 2010, Rich constructed tons of puzzles for the NYT, LAT, CrosSynergy and other venues. 

I don't think we've seen a themeless from Rich in the LAT, but he's an extremely accomplished themeless constructor. So he can really go low on Sunday word account, but he chose a 142 for clean fill today. Rich also allows 144 words for Sundays. Trust me, it makes a huge difference.

Across:

        

1. __ act : CLASS. Fill-in--the blank clues are no gimmes.

6. Graceful bird : SWAN

10. Manhattan sch. : CCNY

 

14. Baggage check requirement : ID TAG

19. Primer sequence : A E I O U

20. Trillionth: Pref. : PICO

21. Surprised greeting : OH HI

22. Actress Thomas : MARLO. Can you believe she's 80 years old?

27. Enjoying a wilderness vacation, maybe : ON SAFARI.

28. Two-mile-high city : LHASA. I linked this once. Both Shanghai and Lhasa are two-character names in Chinese. We use La Sa spelling.

30. Caged, with "up" : COOPED

31. Very long tooth : TUSK

32. Pouch occupants : JOEYs

33. Fronded tree : PALM

34. Picasso, for one : CUBIST. Same letter count as ARTIST.

37. Med. prefix : NEUR. Nerve.

38. Income statement write-offs : BAD DEBTS. And "income" clue echo with 42. Live-income filler : ON ONE

46. Cosmonaut Gagarin : YURI

47. Film-rating org. : MPAA

48. Elec. instrument : SYNTH

49. "Later" : TA TA

50. "The Simpsons" character Sideshow __ : MEL. Unknown to me. We see APU/STU more often.

51. Faller of 2001 : MIR

52. "Hmm ... don't think so" : UH NO

53. Northumbrian monk, briefly : ST BEDE. According to Wiki, he was "an English monk at the monastery of St. Peter and its companion monastery of St. Paul in the Kingdom of Northumbria of the Angles".

55. __ facto : IPSO

56. Slowish movement : ANDANTE

58. Leafstalks : PETIOLES. Learning moment for me.

60. Interfere (with) : MESS

61. Mickey and Jerry : MICE. What a great surprise! Thought the answer would be a plural surnames. 

62. Strict diet restriction : NO CARBS

63. Blacken : SEAR

65. "... dark, __ the blaze of noon": Milton : AMID

67. Prizes in a case : TROPHIES

69. Feline named for an island : MANX CAT. Isle of Man.

72. Sensible : SANE

73. Tardy with : LATE ON

74. Team across the state from the Marlins : RAYS. Tampa Bay Rays.And 16. 74-Across' stadium, casually, with "The" : TROP. Tropicana Field.

75. Artist Yoko : ONO

76. Decked : KO'D

77. Zany Martha : RAYE

78. They're heavier than foils : EPEES

80. Villain named Julius : DR NO. He was born in Beijing.

81. Russian city : OREL. South of Moscow.

85. Easy putt : TAP IN

86. Faithfulness : FIDELITY

88. Showing skill : ABLY. Big Easy sent me this.

89. Order givers : BOSSES

90. Ending with ortho- : DOXY

91. Bar, at the bar : ESTOP. First Bar is verb. Second noun.

93. Algebra, e.g. : MATH

94. Rabbitlike rodent : AGOUTI

97. Arctic temperature word : BELOW

98. Inherited : CAME INTO

106. Link with : TIE TO

107. Banned for a rules infraction, informally : DQ'ED. Disqualified.

108. Marginally : A TAD

109. Kate's sitcom pal : ALLIE. Kate & Allie.

110. Above it all : ALOOF And 3. Above-it-all attitude : AIRS

111. Old pol. divisions : SSRs

112. Toon explorer : DORA

113. Window insert : GLASS

  

Down:

 

1. Mexican resort, familiarly : CABO. Cabo San Lucas.

2. Not fatty : LEAN

4. Clementi composition : SONATINA. Did not know Clementi. Rich himself plays piano.

5. Fill, as with light : SUFFUSE

6. Lively quality : SPARK. Yeah, Misty, we love to see you healthy and happy.

7. User-edited site : WIKI

 

8. Top performer : ACE

9. Pretty darn good : NO SLOUCH. Rich is also no slouch when it comes to golf. Scratch golfer.

10. Patient share : CO-PAY

11. Game with capturing : CHESS

12. Dragsters' org. : NHRA.National Hot Rod Association.

13. Shelter sound : YIP

14. "Brr!" : I'M COLD

15. Former name of Benin : DAHOMEY. Another learning moment for me.

17. Burn soother : ALOE

18. Top prize : GOLD

24. Bottom position : LAST

26. Many : SCADS

29. Rosemary, e.g. : HERB. I've been loving rosemary-roasted potatoes. Simple to make. Nothing as complicated as D-Otto's potato dumplings.

32. Fun : JEST

33. Celebratory procession : PARADE

34. Run-on sentence's lack, probably : COMMA

 

35. Remove, as a brooch : UNPIN

37. El __ : NINO

38. Stimulating leaves : BETELS. I was told that that betel leaves are used in Indian weddings.

40. Long lock : TRESS

41. Storage cylinders : SILOS

43. 10 micronewtons : DYNE

 

44. Wear : ATTIRE

45. Cookout fare on sticks : KABOBS. Xi'an style kabobs. Lots of red pepper flakes. Sichuan province is our neighbor, so our cooking is a bit similar. But we mainly use red hot pepper. They use both red hot pepper and the peppercorn. Their food is numbingly spicy. Our food is simply "hot".

48. "Fiddler on the Roof" village : SHTETL. Consonant-heavy.

52. The Tar Heels of the NCAA : UNC

53. Spray 'n Wash target : STAIN

54. Much of Lamb's legacy : ESSAYS

 

55. High-resolution film format : IMAX

57. Help on the Hill : AIDE

58. Character who uses "yam" as a verb : POPEYE. And 71. 58-Down et al. : TOONS

59. Repeated : ECHOED

62. __ public : NOTARY

64. USN rank : ENS

65. Require from : ASK OF

66. Like about 15% of New Zealanders : MAORI. Over 10% of their population are Asians.

68. It's unlikely : RARITY

69. Fannie __: securities : MAEs

70. Musical in which FDR is a character : ANNIE. Easy guess. 

 

74. __ Martin Cognac : REMY

78. Skateboarder's protection : ELBOW PAD. Lovely fill.

79. Crab's sensor : PALP

80. Hammett who created Nick and Nora : DASHIELL. Don't recall seeing his given name before. Nice. 

82. Was a factor in : LED UP TO

83. Handy "Mr." : FIX IT.  Look at TTP's work.

84. Roman statesman : CATO

85. Reward for a donation, maybe : TOTE BAG

87. Beaucoup : LOTS OF

89. Perennial NCAA football powerhouse : BAMA

91. Conger catcher : EELER. Thank God for Old Fisherman. So tasty!

92. Snow-covered hill sights : SLEDS

 

93. "Zoom-Zoom" sloganeer : MAZDA

94. Official records : ACTA

95. Windy-sounding woman's name : GAIL. Our Gail G.

96. Sandwich cookie : OREO

97. Some fam. meals : BBQs

98. Mogul : CZAR

99. Simba's mate : NALA

100. Speaker of Cooperstown : TRIS. I faintly recall TTP's mom worked in his ranch.

101. Poems of honor : ODEs

103. Spots on the tube : ADs

105. Midori on the ice : ITO

C.C.

Saturday, Dec 2nd, 2017, D. Scott Nichols & C.C. Burnikel

Theme: Argyle SoC.C.ks~!

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

Blocks: 31

A Saturday collaboration between our Monday/Tuesday blogger and the host of the show, C.C.  Lots of multi-word answers today, and a few vague proper names, I caved in to red-letters to help me get the NE corner finished.  Staircase pattern grid, with a pair of 9x6 corners, and nothing longer than those;

15. [Yawn] : I NEED A NAP

12. Singer? : DIRTY RAT - the canary stoolie kind of singer.  I wondered if it was singe-er, as in one who singes

62. Big brother, often : ROLE MODEL

36. Legendary court figure : LANCELOT

 Monty Python~! - well I got "a" note~! @ 3:30

Done.

ACROSS:

 1. Stay in the big house : SERVE TIME - I've done mine - time for someone else

10. Beach pretender : HODAD - I had no idea - I tried POSER to start -  tho I probably have seen this in crosswords before - filled via perps, but I had to Google to check it out

16. Many a Studio Ghibli film : ANIME - red letters told me INDIE was wrong - but only 60% wrong

17. Fund for incidentals : PETTY CASH

18. Character who dances on the beach at Stavros : ZORBA - the only Stavros I could think of was Stavro Mueller and his Beta nightclub - the scene of the climactic end to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 5-book trilogy

So long, and thanks for all the fish

19. Supporting : PRO - I waited to see if it would be "FOR" or "PRO"

20. Evil skill : SORCERY - I tried spelling it so"U"rcery for some reason

22. Talbot Jr. or Sr. on "Rectify" : TED - Googled; never even heard of the show

23. Obstacles on the set : EGOS

25. Confident response to "Your opponent is ready" : "SO AM I~!"

26. Funeral rite heap : PYRE

27. Poet Thomas : DYLAN - filled via perps

29. "Baby Blues" baby : WREN - filled via perps; I looked it up, realized it was the comic strip, which I read and like, but it did not register during the solve

30. Maranjab Desert country : IRAN - a WAG off the "I" - either this one or iraQ

31. Empty out badly? : ROB - ah, theft empty out

33. Repertoire : ARSENAL

35. Skeleton's place? : CLOSET

38. Do maintenance on, as a putting green : AERATE - I had "RE-" in the opening position, which stopped me from seeing this answer, better than "reRAKE" - but it works with sand traps....

39. Card carrier : LANYARD - generic cord for holding ID cards, etc., that is

41. Convene : SIT - MET would not work with the tense of the verb

42. Chill (with) : HANG

43. Kate of "House of Cards" : MARA - filled via perps

45. Grouses : CARPS - wait til we get to the leg picture, and the grousing shall commence~!

49. Welding sparks : ARCS

50. Better : AMEND

52. Tar on the ocean : SALT - sailor nicknames

53. Compete : VIE

54. Like free-range chickens : UNCAGED

56. West of Tinseltown : MAE

57. Country album? : ATLAS - clever

59. History buff's artifacts : AMERICANA

61. Tearful queen : NIOBE

63. First chips : ANTEs - poker, and such

64. Chaotic places : SNAKE PITS

DOWN:

1. Nursed : SIPPED

2. Zip : ENERGY - the 'pep' definition, not the 'nothing' one

3. Overhaul the plant : RETOOL - I pondered REPOTS, but it's the other kind of plant

4. Old hand : VET

5. Dessert company founded in 1928 : EDY'S - only so many ways to clue this four-letter word

6. Shells from stands : TACOS - I was thinking tomatoes, as in shelling a bad stage actor

7. Sequentially : IN A ROW

8. It runs in the shower : MASCARA - I suppose it would

9. Short-lived things : EPHEMERA - the plural of ephemeron, Greek for short-lived insect, and subsequently anything designed to be short-lived

10. Indistinct : HAZY

11. Noted resident of The Dakota in Manhattan : ONO

13. Pale order : AMBER ALE

14. Tone down : DEADEN

21. Washes out : RINSES

24. South Seas cover-ups : SARONGS - a golden opportunity for some leg~!

26. They're beaten at parties : PIÑATAS

28. Intrusive : NOSY - it's those uppity trolls around here that give "anonymous" a bad name - now that's funny

32. Tough guy's exhortation : BE A MAN - for the men, a leg pic can be found here

34. Church of country : ERIC - his name, not the location

35. Allergy sufferer's choice : CLARITIN

37. Mine carriers : TRAMCARS - oh, that kind of mine - I have been watching The Viet Nam War series on PBS, and those were the mines I was thinking of

40. "As if!" : DREAM ON

42. Caribbean city with cocotaxis : HAVANA

44. German chancellor Merkel : ANGELA

46. City west of Baghdad : RAMADI

47. Mercury, e.g. : PLANET - not the sedan/auto this time

48. Bargains beyond belief : STEALS

51. Teammate of Mariano for 19 years : DEREK - couldn't be a C.C. puzzle without baseball, and even though I knew who Mr. Rivera was, I went with JETER before DEREK

54. Exploits : USES

55. Small change : DIME - the one that fit, but CENT was a possibility, too

58. #16, familiarly : ABE - President of the United States

60. Booking agent? : COP - tell 'em, Steve~!

"Aloha, Suckers~!"

Splynter

Friday, December 1, 2017, Jeffrey Wechsler

Title: THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME .

JW is here for another Friday (thank you again HG for the blogs while I was gone) and with what I believe is his first punny quip puzzle. " If I tolled them once, I tolled them a hundred times."

The tolled-told homonym is the key to the humor. We also have some related fill with QUASIMODO and BELL TOWER. This is a rather upbeat puzzle for a very dark story. VICTOR HUGO was quite political in his writings. I was surprised by the theme but appreciated the humor.  There are 59 spaces attached to the theme, with the grid spanner in the middle. The theme did not require a reveal unless you were unfamiliar with this classic movie.

                                                                     SANCTUARY

 We also have fun fill like, CHIPS AWAY, EVIL DEEDS, LIVIDNESS and MIAMI VICE but it is the "quote" which is the puzzle.

17A. Hugo character memorably portrayed by Charles Laughton: QUASIMODO (9).

23A. With 36- and 44-Across, what 17-Across might have said when his job became too repetitious? : IF I TOLLED THEM (13).

36A. See 23-Across: ONCE, I TOLLED THEM (15).

44. See 23-Across: A HUNDRED TIMES (13).

57A. 17-Across' workplace: BELL TOWER (9).


Across:

1. Qualifier for a hall entry? : FAME. I wanted hall pass.

5. Excuse descriptor: LAME. So we start with a nice rhyme.

9. Med. recordings: EKGS. There should not be an "S."

13. Over, in much Twain dialogue: AGIN. As opposed to agin/fer.

14. "__ my way": I'M ON.

15. Relatives of windsocks: VANES. I guess.

19. Fuming: IRATE.

20. Uncle__: SAM.

21. Risk pieces: DICE. The die - a piece of the game or a tool used in the game?

22. Type of large TV: PLASMA.

26. Sitarist Shankar: RAVI. Norah Jones' father.

28. Metal sources: ORES.

29. Important part of a whale's diet: KRILL. They look like small SHRIMP.

31. Feigned: FALSE.

33. Many an IRS employee: CPA. Certified Public Accountant.

39. "Got it now?" : SEE?

40. Parts of Walmart work uniforms: VESTS.

41. Frodo's home, with "the": SHIRE.

42. Gentlemen: SIRS.

43. Actor Omar: EPPS. Once again this week; who is his publicist?

51. Lengthy account: LITANY. Usually of bad things.

52. Participate in a race, maybe: RIDE.

53. Fluoride-touting org.: ADA. American Dental Association.

56. Blazing: AFIRE. Ooh, an a-word.

59. Problems electric razors should prevent: NICKS.

60. Avoid getting into deep water? : WADE.

61. "Lobster Telephone" artist: DALI.

Lobster Telephone is a surrealist object, created by Salvador Dalí in 1936 for the English poet Edward James, a leading collector of surrealist art. Wiki.

62. "__ who?" : SAYS.

63. Monthly Roman calendar occurrences: IDES.  Twice this week. With the fate of Julius Caesar in mind,  this is an interesting juxtaposition with....

64. Turned yellow, perhaps: DYED.

Down:

1. Customer info sources: FAQS.

2. Lago contents: AGUA. Lake: Water. Spanish.

3. '80s cop show featuring Ferraris: MIAMI VICE. An interesting story. LINK. Ferraris twice this week.

4. USN rank: ENSign.

5. Keep in check: LIMIT.

6. Merged gas company: AMOCO. Gobbled up by BP, this brand may be BACK.

7. Auto datum: MODEL.

8. Brian of music: ENO.

9. What superheroes seek to thwart: EVIL DEEDS. This needed many perps.

10. Gold fineness units: KARATS. From a JEWELER.

11. Grind: GNASH.

12. "They __ up!": scapegoat's cry: SET ME.

16. Alteration target: SEAM. My mother was a wonderful nurse and mother, but she could not sew. My brothers and I had to stand with one leg up on the bottom stair after she shortened the pants to make the legs look even.

18. Infamous Amin: IDI.

22. Intrinsically: PER SE. This is not a legal term, per se.

24. Rank partner: FILE. READ and discuss.

25. Doesn't do much: LOLLS.

26. Classic movie theaters: RKOS.

27. "Alfred" composer: ARNE. Not his most famous work. LINK.

30. Red state? : LIVIDNESS. This was very difficult, but when you are livid you turn red.

31. Broadway choreographer for "Chicago": FOSSE.

32. PC key: ALT.

33. Cuts into, with "at": CHIPS AWAY.

34. Cop's collar: PERP. Not her.

35. Iowa college town: AMES. Not Ed this time.

37. Jones or Gilliam of Monty Python: TERRY. The only AMERICAN  in Monty Python is Terry Gilliam.

38. Passé pronoun: THEE.

42. Impertinent in tone: SNARKY.

44. PBS "Mystery!" host Cumming: ALAN.

45. LP players: HI FIS.

46. Erie Canal city: UTICA.

47. More than fear: DREAD.

48. Circumflex cousin: TILDE. Diacritic marks. COMPLICATED.

49. Doesn't do much: IDLES.

50. Satisfied: MET.

54. Editor's mark: DELE.

55. Like much of New Mexico: ARID.

57. Md. airport serving D.C.: BWI. Baltimore Washington International.

58. Not quite right: ODD. We have one living at our condo complex...not easy.

Back when this blog was young and the puzzles discussed were edited by Wayne Williams, we had many similar puzzles. They are usually called "quip" puzzles. Most were silly, so this is not a unique approach. But from Jeffrey? In the LAT?  I liked it, hope you did. Lemonade out.

Thursday, November 30th 2017 Morton J. Mendelson

Theme: Split P's Soup - The clues form the theme with a vowel progression between the two P's

17A. Pap : MUSHY FOOD. About as appetizing as it sounds.

24A. Pep : GET UP AND GO. Nice phrase, difficult to parse from a partially-completed grid.

38A. Pip : DIE SPOT. I tried ONE SPOT first, but TEO'S and GERN at 31D and 24D respectively nudged me that something was amiss.

49A. Pop : MUSIC GENRE. "Pop" is often used derogatively, but there's something about a good pop song that lifts the soul.

60A. Pup : YOUNG SEAL. Had YOUNGSTER until nothing would work in the SW corner.

Good Morning from 39,000 feet!. It's cold outside, as the in-flight website shows:

I never cease to be amazed by technology. This wireless internet caper at this altitude is nothing more than dark magic and hocus-pocus to me.

Anyway, back to the puzzle. A nice alphabet progression from Morton, and four of the five theme entries are new to all the major puzzles which makes for a nice fresh feel to the grid.

Let's see what else catches the eye:

Across:

1. WC : LAV Common term in the UK, from whence I just returned. I can stop talking like Dick Van Dyke in "Mary Poppins" now.

4. Cardiff-born : WELSH

9. Many Dickens kids : WAIFS

14. Action film gun : UZI

15. Kauai greeting : ALOHA. Greeting and farewell. Handy word.

16. Northern home : IGLOO

19. Like hardened mud on boots : CAKED

20. Asks too many questions : PRIES

21. Central points : FOCI. Some prefer "focuses", but that's the verb, not the noun.

23. Mountain legend : YETI

30. Getting-started instruction : STEP ONE. Self-assembly furniture, the bane of modern life, usually starts with counting the screws, washers and what-not and finding yourself one short of something.

32. 1976 Dylan song about his first wife : SARA. I'd not heard this track before. When I listened to it, I would have sworn it was Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler if I didn't know it was Bob.

33. Like FM radio, typically : IN STEREO

36. Old lab heaters : ETNAS. We used Bunsen burners in school. Handy for setting fire to just about anything within reach, including your classmate's tie. I'm surprised we survived school sometimes. One of my friends once went home unawares with a flask of sulphuric acid in his overcoat pocket, slipped in there by another chum.

37. Playa __ Rey: L.A. community : DEL. Between the Marina and the airport. It's pretty peaceful in spite of the proximity to LAX.

41. Biol. or chem. : SCI. 

42. Places to find stacks : IHOPS. And blue roofs.

44. Some DVD bonus tracks : OUTTAKES. Some of the best parts of Pixer's movies are the specially-created "outtakes" that they run with the credits at the end of the film. The animators have a lot of fun with those.

46. Little dipper? : OREO We take Oreos by popular request to the UK when we visit. For some reason they're rather expensive over there. Also, the more unusual M&M flavors, Lawry's garlic salt and bean dip. It always fascinates the TSA guys when they open the bag.

47. Lovey-dovey : AMOROUS

51. Sounds of activity : HUMS

55. __ beer : NEAR. And pretty much pointless, in my humble opinion. Also known as "small beer." There's a tombstone in the grounds of Winchester Cathedral in England which serves as a dire warning against drinking this stuff. I was just there the other day.

 

56. Legendary moralist : AESOP

57. Angiogram image : AORTA

64. Counterintelligence targets : SPIES

65. The life of Paris? : LA VIE

66. Tre meno due : UNA. 3-2=1 in any language.

67. Disconcerting gaze : STARE. I get uncomfortable when cats stare at me. I know they're plotting something dire.

68. Stingray kin : SKATE

69. Salary : PAY

Down:

1. Like poorly made Cream of Wheat : LUMPY. Is this also pap?

2. Clear blue : AZURE

3. Stay and catch up : VISIT

4. Techniques : WAYS

5. "The Hobbit" being : ELF. "E" and wait for the crosses.

6. WC : LOO

7. "Homeland" channel, for short : SHO. Showtime.

8. Enjoyed themselves : HAD FUN

9. Contemporary pagan religion : WICCA

10. In contact with : AGAINST

11. Kind : ILK

12. A Capulet, to a Montague : FOE. Romeo and Juliet.

13. Cover for a bald spot? : SOD

18. Art theft, e.g. : HEIST. Art and bank vault robberies always seemed to be "heists". Everything else is plain old larceny.

22. Unlatch, poetically : OPE'

24. "Deadwood" actress Jewell : GERI

25. Fencing sword : EPÉE

26. "Should I have waited?" : TOO SOON? Often the question comes after a joke in bad taste regarding a recent tragic event.

27. Lenox china brand : DANSK. Crosses all the way.

28. Word with period or note : GRACE. One of these little notes on the stave. They're barely played before a quick segue into the note following.

29. It might be a mirage : OASIS

31. Koppel and others : TEDS

33. By the seat of one's pants, e.g. : IDIOM

34. Indira Gandhi's father : NEHRU. A lot of people think Mahatma Gandhi was Indira's father. Nehru was the first Prime Minister of India following independence from British rule.

35. Plumlike fruits : SLOES. Take a bottle of gin, a generous handful of sloes, prick the berries all over with a needle, steep in the gin for a few days or longer - voila, sloe gin.

36. Classic accusation : ET TU?

39. Be catty? : PURR

40. Missouri River native : OTOE

43. Laser device : POINTER. I've got one on my PowerPoint remote clicker for presentations. Dogs love chasing the red dot around the room.

45. Clambake leftovers : ASHES

47. Ottoman honorific : AGA

48. Ice dancing Olympic gold medalist Davis and Oscar winner Streep : MERYLS. I knew the actress, not the dancer.

50. Pull the plug on : CEASE

52. Run through : USE UP

53. 2016 Disney film set in the South Seas : MOANA. I think I saw film. By the fact I "think" I saw it probably means it wasn't a Disney classic.

54. Spread apart : SPLAY

56. Tommie of '60s-'70s baseball : AGEE. Nailed it!  Thanks to many crosswords under my belt.

57. Hee-hawing animal : ASS

58. Choose : OPT

59. Narrow inlet : RIA

61. Barrel wood : OAK

62. The Cavaliers of the ACC : UVA. University of Virginia, naturally.

63. It may be picked : NIT. But never, ever here at the Corner.

That about rounds it off. I'll leave you with this cloudscape in London last Sunday, and the grid. The iPhone really does take pretty good photos sometimes!

Steve

Wednesday, November 29, 2017, Claire Muscat and David Steinberg

TITLE: AN INSIDE JOB

Claire and David have given us a very clever Wednesday offering featuring Matroyshka DOLLS that stack up and nest inside each other as you can see here:

Husker Gary on duty for a tour of what our  two constructors have done graphically in their wonderful puzzle as you can see in the grid below. They have the letters for the word DOLL in the circles getting progressively and symmetrically closer and closer, until they culminate in the single word DOLL. (Could this reveal have worked without the circled DOLL letters?)

But wait, there's more! They have added the two adjectives that describe this arrangement - NESTING and STACKED in a very neat seven letter stack at the bottom (part of 7, 8, 9/9, 8, 7 letter corners) as shown in the reveals: 

42. With 68-Across, each successive one of a set graphically depicted by this puzzle's circles : NESTING - DO and LL eventually NESTING at the bottom

45. Arranged like the 68-Acrosses in the answers to starred clues are designed to be : STACKED - DO and LL STACKED until NESTING at the bottom. Other visuals for STACKED were considered but...

68. *See 42-Down : DOLL - Here is a seasonal Matroyshka set 

Pretty cool, huh?

Now let's look at the theme fill elements:

18. *Is unsuitable : DOESN'T FIT THE BILL - At first glance it might appear that Earl Boykin DOESN'T FIT THE BILL to play against Shaquille O'Neal

32. *Literary character with an evil alter ego : DOCTOR JEKYLL - John Barrymore transistioning from the good Doctor Jekyll to the evil Mr. Hyde in the 1920 silent movie of the Robert Louis Stevenson classic

50. *Threshold : DOOR SILL - This kitty is protecting hers!

Let's set off to see what else Claire and David have nested in this stack of clues

Across

1. Schooner features : MASTS - or BEERS


6. Frosty coating : RIME

10. Shine : GLEAM

15. Advil competitor : ALEVE

16. __ of March : IDES - The soothsayer Spurinna warned Caesar to beware

17. EVE's companion, in a 2008 Pixar film : WALLE

21. "__ ideas?" : ANY

22. "Back to the Future" vehicle : DELOREAN - At 88 mph the question becomes not "Where is the DeLorean?" but "When is the DeLOREAN?"

23. Wild place : ZOO - Famous for much wild life in Lincoln, NE!

24. Rays or Jays : TEAM

26. RAM part : MEMORY - I remember when 64K of Random Access Memory was a big deal

27. First light : DAWN

28. Egyptian snake : ASP

30. Wide shoe spec : EEE - President Obama seems pretty impressed with the width and length of his Shaquille O'Neal autographed shoe

38. Anti-cruelty org. : PETA

39. "Hold up!" : WAIT

40. Radiate : EMIT

Bob Dylan

42. Twangy-voiced : NASAL - This guy's NASAL voice hasn't kept him from a big career 

43. Breakfast order : EGGS

44. BFFs : FAVES

46. Gets a glimpse of : ESPIES - Not in my verbal or written quiver 

48. Most innocent : PUREST

49. Canonized Mlle. : STE - Joan Of Arc may be the most famous one

55. Bus depot: Abbr. : STA - Marilyn Monroe starred in a 1956 movie about a Bus Depot in Tonganoxie, Kansas

56. Corrida opponent : TORO

58. Paddock sound : WHINNY

Walt and Hank

59. Hank's job on "Breaking Bad," briefly : NARC - Hank is not too happy with his meth cooking brother-in-law in this scene

60. Modern-day Persian : IRANI

62. Tiny annoyance : GNAT

63. Former One Direction singer Zayn __ : MALIK - No idea/interest

64. Frequent presidential candidate Ralph : NADER - You can't 67. Skim (over) : GLOSS over the fact that a lot of people didn't like Gore or Bush

65. Fairy tale baddie : OGRE - Except for Shrek

66. In reserve : ASIDE - How much money do you have set ASIDE for that inevitable rainy day?

69. Knight's horse : STEED


Down

1. Angry with : MAD AT

2. Without assistance : ALONE

3. "Later!" : SEE YA - Wouldn't wanna BE YA!

4. Family room sets : TVS - We now have way more TV'S than the number of channels we  used to have

5. Final email step : SEND - Think before you hit SEND!!

6. Search quickly through : RIFLE

7. Figure of speech : IDIOM

8. Way around D.C. : METRO - A 10 min. Uber ride would have taken a half hour on the METRO for us in March

9. Perfume compound : ESTER

10. No Doubt lead singer Stefani : GWEN - Now, her I know!

11. Chocolate dog : LAB

12. "My Fair Lady" heroine : ELIZA - Here is Wendy Hiller as ELIZA in the 1938 non-musical movie Pymaglion. A role that Audrey Hepburn later made famous.

13. Let happen : ALLOW

14. Fruit that's still a fruit when two of its letters are switched : MELON - Switch the first and third letters and you get my first car

19. What sirens may do : TEMPT - Greek mythology tells of these creatures who used enchanting music and lovely voices to lure sailors to their doom on rocky shores

20. Actress Salma : HAYEK

25. Chinese liquor brand : MAOTAI - Alexander Haig warned President Nixon to not actually drink any of this very potent liquor during toasts. Dan Rather called it "liquid razor blades"

27. San Diego suburb : DEL MAR - A city of 4,356 whose name means "By The Sea" and is home to a famous horse racetrack 

29. Climbed : SCALED

31. The Eiffel Tower, aptly? : EYEFUL - Cute! Granddaughter did not go up the tower last week because of the daunting lines

32. Western outlaw : DESPERADO

33. Be indebted to : OWE

34. Cleaning cloth : RAG


35. Irish dance : JIG - For some reason a guy is doing pushups while the girls are dancing a JIG

36. "Close Encounters" beings : ETS - I loved the cantina scene from Star Wars

37. Hides one's true self : LIVES A LIE - Fewer people have to do this now

38. Idyllic : PASTORAL


41. Take for a first drive : TEST RIDE - Al Pacino played a blind man who took a Ferrari for a TEST RIDE in Scent Of A Woman

47. Farm mom : SOW

48. Tissue layer : PLY - Some schools save money with single PLY toilet tissue. Yikes!

51. "What a nightmare!" : OH GOD

52. Fab Four drummer : RINGO - The luckiest man in Rock 'n Roll history?



53. [Don't touch my bone!] : SNARL

54. Info a spy might gather : INTEL

57. Dollar bills : ONES

59. Condé __ : NAST - The man who is credited with giving us our modern version of Santa Claus with this 1881 drawing in Harper's Bazaar

61. Recipient of much Apr. mail : IRS

63. More, in Madrid : MAS - Esas son todas las pistas. No hay más. (That's all the clues. There are no more.)


Now feel free to stack and nestle your comments: