Thursday, November 21, 2013 MaryEllen Uthlaut

Theme: "I Kid You Not!"

The unifier can be found in the middle of the grid today:

40-Across. Troubled youth literally hiding in each answer to a starred clue : CRAZY MIXED UP KID. Today is anagram day, with four of them hidden in common phrases.

18-Across. *Filet mignon dish named for a goddess : STEAK DIANE.

24-Across. *Emergency supplies : FIRST AID KIT. or FIRST AID KIT. It would be better to avoid this type of ambiguity, but there really are no other common 11-letter phrases that use that particular sequence. And you really want to have all the anagram possibilities.

52-Across. *Pipe-smoking royal : OLD KING COLE.

63-Across. *Fictional rank above Padawan : JEDI KNIGHT.

Just missing the "Q" for a pangram. Did it seem especially easy for a Thursday?  Some of the clues were a little tricky, but I found the fill to be very Monday-level, with nary an obscure name in the bunch!

Across:

1. "Are you serious?" : WHAT. (Usually pronounced as WHAAAA??)

5. Handicapper's concern : ODDS.

9. Class __ : CLOWN. I bet CrossEyedDave was the class clown in his school.

14. Doth possess : HATH.

15. Los Angeles, for one : PORT.

16. High nest : AERIE.

17. Opposed party : ANTI.

20. Jet sounds : ROARS.

22. Proactiv target : ACNE.

23. Was in the vanguard : LED.

27. Dog in Baum stories : TOTO.

28. Dangerous fly : TSE TSE.

33. Puffin kin : AUK. Seems they have a playful side, too.

36. Sizable music combo : NONET.

39. Planted : SOWN.

44. Fable : TALE.

45. Makes the scene : COMES.

46. I trouble? : EGO.

47. Slob's napkin : SLEEVE.

50. Spheres studied by Mendel : PEAS. From them, he eventually developed his "Laws of Inheritance."

58. Tailless primate : APE.

61. Explorer on Nick Jr. : DORA. The Explorer.

62. Art support : EASEL.

67. Pro __ : RATA.

68. Where the action is : ARENA.

69. Former Neet rival : NAIR.

70. Similar : AKIN.

71. Face-off locales : RINKS. Hockey face-offs. Hey, Splynter!

72. Low joint : KNEE.

73. Wings, for instance : BAND. Paul McCartney's band on the run...

Down:

1. Marina structure : WHARF.

2. Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum city : HANOI.

3. Rose essence : ATTAR.

4. Need of a 53-Down : THIRST. and 53-Down. Solution for 4-Down : DRINK.

... of 12-Down. Riesling product : WINE? ...or 48-Down. Stoli and SKYY : VODKAS??

5. Brief missions? : OPS. (Operations.)

6. Hi and Lois's daughter : DOT. Her twin brother's name is "Ditto."

7. Foreboding : DREAD.

8. Cupboard arrangement : STACK.

9. Officers-to-be : CADETS.

10. Floral wreath : LEI.

11. Word-of-mouth : ORAL.

13. Aid factor : NEED.

19. Grow together : KNIT...as, a broken bone.

21. Rock-filled : STONY.

25. It can be viewed with a scanning tunneling microscope : ATOM. Invented by Roher and Binnig. Read more about how it works here.

26. Column style : IONIC. I always want to put "doric" first. Hi Dudley!

29. Paranormal ability : ESP.

30. Tip for a croupier : TOKE. We have had this recently, I think.

31. Large gulp : SWIG.

32. Prefix with skeleton : ENDO. And a clecho with 37-Down. Prefix with skeleton : EXO.

33. Book after John : ACTS. (of the Apostles)

34. River through Orsk : URAL.

35. Broccoli relative : KALE.

38. Metronome settings : TEMPI. Plural variant of tempos.

41. Prize component? : ZEE.

42. "The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook" author Paula : DEEN. Her recipes always seem to begin with "Add two cups of sugar to three pounds of butter..."

43. Stylebook subject : USAGE.

49. Tar Heel State campus : ELON. Just outside Greensboro, N.C.

51. Egyptian amulet : SCARAB.

54. 2010 Supreme Court appointee : KAGAN.

55. Honshu port : OSAKA.

56. Admit to the club : LET IN.

57. Twisty-horned antelope : ELAND.

58. Admitting a breeze, perhaps : AJAR.

59. "Frasier" actress Gilpin : PERI. She played Roz, Frasier's radio producer.

60. Shangri-la : EDEN.

64. Press coverage : INK. OK, I had to think about this. Does the clue literally refer to the ink that covers the printing press roller? Or, does it mean column space in the newspaper ("J-Lo sure gets a lot of ink.") I'll leave it to you to decide.

65. Make haste : HIE.

66. Uno e due : TRE. One + two = three, in Italian.

And that's a wrap for me this week!

Marti

Note from C.C.:

 

Charlotte, Lemonade's beautiful granddaughter, turned one year old.
Look how pretty she is. Click on the first picture, you'll see how incredible long her eyelashes are. It's in the genes. Lemonade said he used to have long eyelashes before his corneal transplants. Click here to see all the cute Charlotte pictures in my Ginger Roots archive.

Thursday, November 14, 2013 Mark Bickham

Theme: "Homophonic Letter Strings"



18. *Make it not hurt so much : EASE THE PAIN. "E E E E"



23. *Marching order : EYES FRONT. "I I I I"



36. *Has unfinished business with the IRS : OWES BACK TAXES. "O O O O"



51. *Entice with : USE AS BAIT. "U U U"



58. *Sagacious : WISE AS AN OWL. "Y Y Y Y"



53. MLB team, familiarly (and what's missing from the sequence found in the answers to starred clues?) : THE As.



I can't think of any common phrase that begins with Aze (with the "long A" sound), can you? So the unifier is the perfect cop-out, IMHO.  Lots of fun clues with plenty of misdirection that kept the V8 can busy. Let me show you what I mean...



Across:



1. Moll's leg : GAM. Well, OK. This one was easy, but just wait...



4. Word after fire or power : DRILL.



9. Like some wedding dresses : LACY. Sexy was my go-to choice here.



13. Biblical priest who trained Samuel : ELI.



14. Zellweger et al. : RENEES.



16. Together, in music : A DUE.



17. Architect's add-on : ELL.



20. Tre times due : SEI. Italian "three times two."  Bill G., can you help me with the answer here? (^0^)



21. Bark relative : YIP. Oh man, I was thinking tree bark.



22. IHOP array : SYRUPS. I wanted "stacks."



26. Type of cranial nerve : OPTIC.



28. Role for John Cho in "Star Trek" : SULU.



29. Jets and others : TEAMS. Because NFLers wouldn't fit...



31. __ nutshell : IN A.



32. Mex. neighbor : USA.



34. Motor extension? : OLA.



35. At any time : EVER.



40. Spot on the tube : TV AD.



41. Good buddy : BRO.



42. Play about Capote : TRU.man.



43. Ran across : MET.



44. Film critic Jeffrey : LYONS. Did not know him. All perps.  He agrees with the Tomatometer 0% of the time on "Rotten Tomatoes"?



46. Long haul : TREK.



49. __ de Chine: light fabric : CREPE. This wedding dress doesn't look LACY or sexy!

54. Eggheads : BRAINS.



56. Govt. surveillance group : NSA. National Security Agency.



57. PTA meeting site : SCH.ool. Abbr. in the clue gave me the hint.



60. __ out: barely make : EKE.



61. Aleutian island : ATKA. Population 61 !  Map.



62. Faunae counterparts : FLORAE.



63. Grassy area : LEA.



64. Harness part : REIN.



65. Yeats' "The Wild __ at Coole" : SWANS. I did not know this poem, but it was a WAG…I didn't think Yeats would wax poetic over "geese" or "ducks."



66. Many AARP The Magazine readers: Abbr. : SRS. Seniors.



Down:



1. Silly sorts : GEESE. Ahh…here's our geese!



2. Strike zones? : ALLEYS. Boomer! (Bowling alleys.)



3. Social setting : MILIEU.



4. Mr. Holland portrayer : DREYFUSS. I thought Richard Dreyfuss was brilliant in "Mr. Holland's Opus."



5. Put on again : REAIR. I had "Re-don."  D'oh!! TV, not clothes...



6. Hip joint : IN SPOT. Hip, meaning "cool" or "trendy." Great misdirection!  I really wanted "pelvis" but it just wasn't working...



7. Author Harper : LEE. "To Kill a Mockingbird."



8. Conversation opener : LET'S TALK. "Come here often?" wouldn't fit.



9. Drink à la Fido : LAP UP. Anyone else for "slurp"?  Show of hands?



10. Capable of change : ADAPTIVE.



11. Cookbook categories : CUISINES.



12. Nikkei Index currency : YEN.



15. Lacking the required funds : SHY. Tricky little clue for a three-letter answer.



19. Winged god : EROS.



24. Turned around : SLUED.



25. Opponents of the '60s-'70s New Left : NEOCONS. Neoconservatives. I won't get into politics...



27. Golf, for one : CAR. Another really tricky clue for a three-letter answer. VW model.



30. Simpsons creator Groening : MATT.



33. "Eight Is Enough" wife : ABBY.



35. Bedroom community : EXURB.



36. Orthodontic concern : OVERBITE.



37. Ride the wake, say : WATER SKI. Ya mean, they do it on water, too???



38. Awakenings : AROUSALS.



39. Some auction transactions : ART SALES.



40. "Movies for movie lovers" network : TMC. The Movie Channel. I always get TMC and TCM mixed up, and I watch them both.



44. "Aren't you a little short for a Stormtrooper?" speaker : LEIA. She was talking to Luke, and I think she probably regretted those words… 0:28



45. Isabel Allende title : SENORA.



47. Stands for things : EASELS. See? See?  I told you there was tons of misdirection in the puzzle.



48. Any of the top 25 NFL career scoring leaders : KICKER.



50. Song of praise : PAEAN. Trivia fact: When the USS Pueblo was captured by North Korea in 1968, they forced Captain Bucher to write a confession. He penned, "We paean DPRK, we paean their great leader Kim Il Sung."  What the North Koreans didn't know, was that he was using "Paean" as a homophone of "pee on," instead of singing their praises!



52. Egyptian dam : ASWAN.



55. Bad check letters : NSF.



58. Card game for two, usually : WAR.



59. "What are you waiting for?!" : NOW! I am done…



Til next week!

Marti

Thursday, November 7, 2013 Andrea Carla Michaels and Gregory Cameron

Theme: "Red Wine Makes Me Awesome..."

I feel like I hit the jackpot with this theme!

17-Across. Wine enthusiast's list of killer reds? : SEVEN DEADLY ZINS. (Seven deadly sins.) Zin is the short term for Zinfandel, one of California's leading grapes.

I cracked up when I figured this one out, because there actually is a wine called by that name. In fact, I think I have some in my cellar...

36-Across. Wine enthusiast's "That's how it goes"? : QUE SYRAH SYRAH. (Que sera, sera.) Syrah grapes originated in SE France, in the Rhone wine region.

57-Across. Wine enthusiast's philosophy? : LIFE IS A CABERNET. (Life is a caberet.) Cabernet is one of the most ubiquitous grapes in the world.

There were a couple of other gratuitous wine-related entries:

48-Across. Effervesce, as some wine : SPARKLE.

61-Across. Champagne choice : BRUT. A term meaning "dry" in the oenophile world.

A theme near and dear to my heart! And I do believe it is Gregory's debut. Congratulations!

Across:

1. Hollywood special effects, briefly : CGI. I'm pretty sure it means Computer  Generated Imagery, but I'm open to suggestions.

4. Did, but doesn't now : USED TO.

10. 1970s-'80s sketch comedy show : SCTV. Second City Television.

14. "Prince Valiant" prince : ARN.

15. Brian McKnight/Vanessa Williams duet with the line "It conquers all" : LOVE IS. Here's the video, if you care to listen.

16. Chain with stacks : IHOP. International House of Pancakes.

20. "I __ Symphony": Supremes hit : HEAR A. Sorry: I'm already at my self-imposed one-link-limit!

21. Hoover underlings : FBI MEN.

22. Stands the test of time : ENDURES.

25. Out to lunch, so to speak : IN A DAZE. (...another gratuitous wine reference??)

28. Shed tears : WEEP. (Unlike milk, it is OK to weep over spilled wine...)

29. Kaput : SHOT.

31. Mineo of film : SAL.

32. Barcelona bar bites : TAPAS. (With a nice Rioja wine, of course!)

34. Dust particle : SPECK.

40. Bankrolls : FUNDS.

41. Man-to-boy address : KIDDO.

42. Feel ill : AIL.

43. It's saved in bits : DATA.

44. Stinging insect : WASP.

52. Helter-__ : SKELTER.

54. "Uh-oh" : WHOOPS. ("I just spilled wine all over the rug!")

56. Sierra __: Freetown's country : LEONE.

62. First novel in Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle : ERAGON.

63. Take steps : ACT.

64. Eggs sprinkling : SALT.

65. Levels of society : STRATA.

66. __ down the law : LAY.

Down:

1. Nut used in Asian cooking : CASHEW.

2. Novelist Graham : GREENE.  He wrote "The Third Man."

3. Overrun : INVADE.

4. Arm bone-related : ULNAR.

5. Lawn maker : SOD.

6. Celebration time : EVE. (Time to break out the champagne!)

7. Fall on __ ears : DEAF.

8. Choice piece : TIDBIT.

9. Singer K.T. : OSLIN.

10. Judged, with "up" : SIZED.

11. Waters off Taiwan : CHINA SEA. Nailed it, C.C. !!

12. Cargo unit : TON.

13. Cheney and Biden: Abbr. : VPS.

18. Lost one's temper : ERUPTED.

19. Sumac of Peru : YMA. She lives on in crossword puzzles.

23. Glimpse : ESPY.

24. __-Pei : SHAR. Who could resist a face like this?

26. Golfer Johnson : ZACH.

27. Antlered animal : ELK.

30. Neighbor of Kobe and Kyoto : OSAKA.

33. Mule parent : ASS.

34. "Sammy the Seal" author Hoff : SYD. From the "I Can Read" children's series.

35. Cat burglar : PROWLER.

36. Bon mot : QUIP.

37. Illicit : UNLAWFUL.

38. Google goals : HITS.

39. Minn. neighbor : S. DAK.ota.

40. Scale notes : FAs.

43. Hit the road : DEPART.

45. Like many a John Cage composition : ATONAL. Avant garde composer, perhaps best known for his 4'33" (four minutes, thirty-three seconds) piece, in which the musicians on the stage sit and do not play.  The "music" is actually the environmental sounds the audience hears during that time.

46. Largest of New York's Finger Lakes : SENECA.

47. Comely : PRETTY.

49. Butler of fiction : RHETT.

50. Ornamental pond fish : KOI.

51. Draws the short straw, say : LOSES. (It's OK, I never drink wine with a straw, anyway!)

53. Justice Kagan : ELENA.

55. Lasting mark : SCAR.

57. Lots of ozs. : LBs.

58. Keogh plan kin : IRA. Individual Retirement Account.

59. Ottoman dignitary : AGA.

60. Sci-fi sidekick, often : BOT.tle of wine?  (Oh, I think they mean RO-bot...)

It has to be 5:00 somewhere: Cheers!  (^0^)

Marti

Note from C.C.:



1) Do you still remember Andrea Carla Michaels from this picture I showed on the blog in June? She is very witty, warm, bubbly and encouraging. She's one of the constructors for Crossword LA. She's also teaming up with Tom Pepper for our MN Crossword Tournament next year. I googled her co-constructor Gregory Cameron, but found a bishop?

Left to right: Tom Pepper; Marcia J. Brott; George Barany; David
Hanson; DK, C.C.; Andrea;
Boomer & Victor Barocas

2) For those of you who don't have a blue profile in the Comments section, please can you click on the Name/URL button, see below. Then put your name there. Alias is fine. It's just hard for others to respond to you if you choose the Anonymous option.

Thursday, October 31, 2013 Gerry Wildenberg

Theme: "Marooned"



20A. 1954 Luis Buñuel film : ROBINSON CRUSOE. The 1997 remake starred Pierce Brosnan.

35A. 1974 Lina Wertmüller film : SWEPT AWAY. The 2002 remake starred Madonna.

54A. 1963 Peter Brook film : LORD OF THE FLIES. The 1990 remake starred Balthazar Getty.

And the unifier:



13D. With 44-Down, setting for 20-, 35- and 54-Across : DESERT. 44. See 13-Down : ISLAND.



Three movies from three different decades are the stars of this show, with all three taking place on a DESERT ISLAND. Evidently there were quite a few to choose from. It seemed a little difficult, but I didn't need to send out an SOS, and finished in my typical Thursday time.



Across:



1. Works by future doctors : THESES. Nailed it.



7. One of two N.T. books : COR.inthians.



10. Mellowed, perhaps : AGED. I must be very mellowed by now.



14. 24/7 Rollerball maker : PENTEL.



15. Address for a PFC : APO. Army Post Office, but also used by the Air Force.



16. Traffic controller : CONE. Until it gets run over by an out-of-control driver.



17. African adventure : SAFARI. (Safari, sa goodie…)



18. Buttinskies : MEDDLERS.



22. Eur.'s ocean : ATL.antic



23. Diva quality : EGO.



24. Smallish cells : AAs. Oh, batteries. I was thinking of platelets. (I guess it was the immunohematologist in me…)



25. "__ Love": Natalie Cole hit : OUR. Here's the lovely song. 5:25



26. Lamarr of Hollywood : HEDY. Not just a pretty face, she invented a signal technology that led to the modern cell phone.



28. Harrison colleague : STARR. George Harrison and Ringo Starr of the Beatles.  I was thinking of this Harrison for a while.



30. Sluglike "Star Wars" alien : HUTT. Jabba the.



31. Map corner item, maybe : INSET.

33. Cross-referencing words : SEE NOTE.



38. Rat Pack leader : SINATRA. "Ol' Blue Eyes"



40. Pizza order : SLICE.



44. Start for sphere : IONO. Wanted "atmo" at first. It didn't work out well for me...



45. Moved, as a trireme : OARED.



48. Aussie flock : EMUS.



49. Benchmark: Abbr. : STD. Standard.



50. "For shame!" : TUT. Tsk, tsk.  Another misstep.



51. Portuguese royal : REI.



53. PGA money winner, e.g. : PRO.



58. Unwanted import from the East? : ASIAN FLU.



59. Words that may precede weeping? : READ 'EM. (and weep…)



61. Word with blue or bean : NAVY.



62. Neurologist's test, briefly : EEG. Electroencephalogram.



63. Temper : ANNEAL. "Hissy fit" wouldn't work.



64. Covers the gray, say : DYES. Who, moi??



65. Tokyo, long ago : EDO.



66. They raise dough : YEASTS.





Down:



1. Festoons with certain tissue, for short : TPs. (Toilet Papers.) Auburn fans have it down to a science.



2. Give courage to : HEARTEN.



3. Swathes : ENFOLDS.



4. Attempt : STAB. Take a stab at the answer.



5. Spine-tingling : EERIE.



6. Baby carriers : SLINGS.



7. Hunter's garb, for short : CAMO.uflage.



8. Clearing : OPEN AREA.



9. A.L. Rookie of the Year after Tommie Agee : ROD CAREW. Oh, OK. If you say so. (Who knew CAREW?)

10. Rights protection gp. : ACLU. American Civil Liberties Union.



11. Has a date : GOES OUT.



12. On the way : EN ROUTE. The Cardinals were EN ROUTE for a verrrrrry long time on Tuesday.



19. TV's Oz and Gupta : DRs. I knew Dr. Mehmet Cengiz Öz, but didn't remember Dr. Sanjay Gupta.



21. Barstool topper : SOT. Haha, funny clue!



22. Yellowfin tuna : AHI.



27. Like no-nonsense questions : YES/NO.



29. "When You Wish Upon __" : A STAR. Original soundtrack. 2:13



30. Big name in games : HOYLE.



32. Bygone Delta rival : TWA. Trans World Airlines. Merged with American in 2001.



34. "Illmatic" rapper : NAS. Oh, I just can't link it...



36. Cajun crawfish dish :  ÉTOUFFÉE. Yummm.

37. Went on and on : PRATTLED. I hope I am not PRATTLing too much?



38. In a manner of speaking : SO TO SAY.



39. Ready to go forward : IN DRIVE.



41. Blocks : IMPEDES.



42. Attack with profanity : CURSE AT.



43. That, in Tabasco : ESO. I never know whether to put an "O" or an "a" on the end. Perps tell me which way to go, usually.



46. Before, to a bard : ERE.



47. Offset, as costs : DEFRAY.



50. It may be gross : TON.

Gross tonnage is calculated by measuring a ship's volume (from keel to funnel, to the outside of the hull framing) and applying a mathematical formula. Bill G.?

52. "The L Word" producer Chaiken : ILENE. Never saw the show.



55. Woody Allen's "Radio __" : DAYS. With Mia Farrow. Never saw it.



56. Science fiction prize : HUGO.



57. Collector's suffix : IANA. Meh.



60. D.C. United's org. : MLS. Major League Soccer.



That's it from me for this week. See you next time!



Marti