Thursday, December 1st, 2016 Bruce Haight

Theme: Siteswap Eight - or Juggling Jive. The word JUGGLING is spelled out by the circles, starting with the J at the bottom and progressing clockwise in a circle, cascade-style.

17A. Elaborate costume parties : MASKED BALLS

53A. Places for seeing stars? : BOXING RINGS

11D. What can help you avoid getting stuck changing diapers? : SAFETY PINS

28D. Groups with a piece-keeping strategy? : CHESS CLUBS

and the reveal:

48D. Nonsense talk, whose circled letter is the start of what might be done with items in the four longest puzzle answers : JIVE. Cue those falsetto-singing Australians. Get your disco on.

Wow, what a nice puzzle! This one presented three challenges for me - the puzzle itself, trying to figure out what the reveal meant, and finally seeing the juggling theme in the circles. The way I see it, the word JIVE is the juggler (as I've colored in the grid at the bottom). Fine work from Bruce today.

The first known juggling image comes from a wall painting in the tomb of an ancient Egyptian prince c. 1750 BC. The lady on the right doesn't seem to have much to juggle, but the one next to her is doing a cross-handed bedazzle. Neat!

I learned to juggle at a trade show in Maastricht back in the 80's. I was on booth duty and the show was very poorly attended, so customers were few and far between. One of the vendors had hacky sack giveaways, so we all took three or four and learned to juggle. By the end of the week the only activity to be seen across the floor was about 100 people doing three and four siteswaps. Fun times.

Across:

1. Asset for Sherlock : LOGIC

6. Fast : RAPID

11. Additional information? : SUM. Fine example of clue trickery. 1+2 = 3.

14. Important period : EPOCH

15. Eat into : ERODE

16. What makes a deal ideal? : AN "I". Love it.

Coach: There's no "I" in "Team"!

19. Pickle : FIX

20. "Zip it!" : SHH!

21. Prosperity : WEAL. This was new to me - I thought at first I'd made a mistake in the crosses. It seems to be a pretty obscure usage, dictionary searches don't bring it up at first pass, and it's buried pretty deeply in the thesaurus. Nice learning moment.

22. "Blah, blah, blah," for short : ETC, ETC

24. Golden __ : AGER

25. "I used to be Snow White, but I __": Mae West : DRIFTED. She was pretty racy for the times. Still would be, judging by this picture:

26. Part of the pelvis : SACRUM

29. In essence : MAINLY

30. "Bor-r-ring" : HO-HUM

31. LPGA great Lopez : NANCY. During her "farewell" season on tour, one rather famous player could be heard one Thursday: "I'm so sick of this. Every week it's the same thing. Nancy shows up, Nancy gets a plaque, Nancy cries, Nancy misses the cut. Call it a career already". Made me laugh.

32. Green shade : PEA

35. Rare blood type, briefly : A-NEG

36. Shakespearean barmaid : WENCH. 

"Oh, ill-starred wench! Pale as your smock!"

Othello

37. Picky details : NITS. We never see any of those around here, right?

38. "But __ got high hopes ... ": song lyric : HE'S

39. Neutral tone : BEIGE

40. Prefix with -gram : PENTA

41. Like angel food cake : SPONGY. I had SPONGE first until MANGY corrected me. MANGE didn't work as an adjective.

43. Curry favor with, with "to" : KISS UP

44. Ill-mannered : UNCOUTH

46. Veers suddenly : ZIGS. Z_GS and wait for the cross.

47. Distance runners : MILERS. I was a pretty OK distance runner, the longer the better - I was too stubborn to admit defeat. The sprint finishers always did for me though - I had no fast gear. Not too sure I've got much of a slow one any more, come to think of it.

48. First name in folk : JONI. Mitchell.

49. How it's always done, initially : SOP. Standard Operating Procedure. The crosses filled this one in for me - I had to think quite hard as to what the acronym stood for. In fact, I had to think so hard that I had Google do the thinking.

52. Heat meas. : B.T.U. British Thermal Unit. The British are very understated with their "thermal units" of weather. Icicles hanging from your ears means "it's a bit chilly out". Hurricane-force winds are "breezy". The opposite applies with heat, as there is rarely any of it. Any day above 70F is "a scorcher". Two consecutive scorchers constitute "a heatwave" and attracts comparisons to the weather in Spain. Three in a row and the Town Hall issues a three-week hosepipe ban.

56. CSA soldier : REB.

57. Green shade : OLIVE. Two shades of green today.

58. Fragrances : ODORS

59. Pack animal : ASS

60. Snooped (around) : NOSED

61. "Check" : NO BET. Poker term. When you decline to open the betting in a particular round and pass to the next player.

Down:

1. NASA vehicles : LEMS. Lunar Exploration Modules.

2. Fish with vermilion fins : OPAH. Reminds me of the toasts in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". Ώπα! 

3. "Jeepers!" : GOSH

4. "Ugh!" : ICK

5. Enjoy Orbit : CHEW GUM. 

6. Masonry-reinforcing rod : REBAR. From "reinforcing bar", which is too much of a mouthful.

7. Inland Asian sea : ARAL

8. D.C. player : POL. Got me with "NAT" first.

9. Set-for-life set : IDLE RICH

10. Lot : DESTINY

12. Form a coalition : UNITE

13. Personalized collection of love songs, say : MIX CD. Mix tapes in my day. The main character in Nick Hornby's book "High Fidelity" makes mix tapes for any girl he's trying to date. John Cusack starred in the movie. Jack Black has an outstanding performance, one of his early successes.

18. Consider : DEEM

23. Toronto Argonauts' org. : C.F.L. Canadian Football League. Nine teams, currently.

24. "... bug in __" : A RUG. As snug as a ..

25. Hustle or shuffle : DANCE

26. Former Mideast ruler : SHAH

27. Tops : A-ONE

29. Like many a stray dog : MANGY

31. Bay sound : NEIGH

33. Incredulous dying words : ET TU?

34. "Hurry!" letters : ASAP! Not STAT. Wait for the crosses if you've just got the A.

36. Tried to make it on one's own : WENT SOLO

37. Storied loch : NESS. More than 22 miles long. Spectacular views too.

39. New Orleans' __ Street : BOURBON, I went for an early-morning run down Bourbon Street one Sunday morning. Let's just say it wasn't one of my better ideas.

40. Crude smelting product : PIG IRON

42. "Once upon a midnight dreary" poet : POE.

43. Two-checker piece : KING. I think this fella can jump backwards, but I haven't played checkers since I was five.

44. Eclipse shadow : UMBRA

45. Times in ads : NITES

46. Daydreamed, with "out" : ZONED. Sorry, what was that?

49. Stuffed shirt : SNOB

50. Brutish one : OGRE. I read "British one" first, and wondered why OGRE? We're not all meanies.

51. "You there!" : PSST

54. Ones following the nus? : XIS. It's all Greek to me.

55. Court promise : I DO. As in promising to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but. We geeks learn the meaning of third normal form in a relational database by memorizing: "The key, the whole key and nothing but the key, so help me Codd".

And with that, I think I'm done. Time for some caffeine.

Steve

Wednesday, November 16th, 2016 Bruce Haight

Theme: Naming Names. Five names-as-nouns entries identified by similarities in the cluing.

17A. Nerd's moniker : POINDEXTER. From "Felix the Cat", and later a character in "The Revenge of the Nerds".

25A. Detective's moniker : SHERLOCK.

"A man should keep his little brain attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library where he can get it if he wants."

The Five Orange Pips

39A. Traitor's moniker : JUDAS. Thirty pieces of silver was his price, according to some.

47A. Genius' moniker : EINSTEIN. 

"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits".

60A. Old-timer's moniker : METHUSELAH. Also a wine bottle containing 8 standard bottles, or six liters. The bottle on the floor, second from the right, is one.

Greetings! No, you haven't blinked and missed Wednesday, Jazzbumpa and I traded blogging days this week so you'll see him tomorrow. This puzzle certainly felt like a Thursday though - it took me quite some time to get going, not helped by being unfamiliar with POINDEXTER and unable to get off the WEED WACKER idea. Nice theme, some solid longer non-theme entries too, especially TATTLETALES and ARMED ESCORT in the downs.

Let's see what else we've got:

Across:

1. New England NFLers : PATS. The Patriots. And the only franchise not geographically aligned to a city or a state, but a region.

5. Workforce : STAFF

10. __ salad : TACO

14. Cornell who founded Cornell : EZRA. Who are Better than Ezra? These guys.

15. Actress Tierney : MAURA. Thank you, crosses.

16. Passionate god : AMOR. This one threw me for a loop, being neither Eros nor Cupid.

19. Unexciting : TAME

20. Actress Gabor : EVA. Along with sisters Magda and Zsa Zsa.

21. Blends : OLIOS

22. Destination for the last flight? : ATTIC. Enjoyed unraveling this one. Clever clue.

23. In the cellar : LAST. Bottom of a league table. From the attic to the cellar in one fell clue.

27. Speak to : ADDRESS

30. Michelle who was the youngest female to play in a PGA Tour event : WIE. She was the youngest person at 10 years old to play in the US Amateur, and she never wanted to stop testing herself against better and better competition. She won the US Women's Open in 2014, having graduated from Stanford while still finding time to play professional golf. Quite a role model.

31. Bubbles up : FOAMS

32. Didn't like leaving : HATED TO GO

38. Ending for marion : -ETTE

40. Gung-ho : AVID

41. Lawn-trimming tool : WEED EATER. The inventor's grandson, Mark Ballas, is a professional ballroom dancer on "Dancing with the Stars".

43. Anti-inflammatory brand : ALEVE

44. Sixth sense, initially : E.S.P.

45. Coming to a point : TAPERED

52. Bonny one : LASS

53. Captain Kirk's "final frontier" : SPACE

54. Young zebras : FOALS

56. "Gross!" : EWW

59. __ avail: fruitless :  TO NO

62. Skunk cabbage feature : ODOR. Even the latin name sounds unpleasant: Symplocarpus foetidus.

63. More flimsy, as an excuse : LAMER

64. Ballet move : PLIÉ.

65. Attention getter : PSST! Checho with 55D

66. Krispy __ : KREME

67. Man, but not woman : ISLE. Lies between England and Ireland in the Irish Sea. Nigel Mansell, who won both the Formula 1 world motor racing championship and the Indy Car World Series, was a volunteer policeman on the island while he was still a racing driver and reportedly enjoyed writing speeding tickets with the comment "Who do you think you are, Me?".

Down:

1. First name in skunks : PEPE

2. Sea of __: Black Sea arm : AZOV. Tried ARAL first which slowed me down.

3. Court calendar entry : TRIAL DATE

4. __ Diego : SAN

5. Silvery food fish : SMELTS. I thought "smelt" was the plural but Webster's has both.

6. Airport waiter : TAXI

7. Dealership lot array : AUTOS

8. At risk of being slapped : FRESH

9. A long way : FAR

10. Rats : TATTLETALES

11. Former New York senator Al D'__ : AMATO

12. Word with book or opera : COMIC

13. "Clean Made Easy" vacuum brand : ORECK

18. Pill amounts : DOSES

22. Like Death Valley : ARID

24. Bodyguard, typically : ARMED ESCORT. I had a bodyguard once on a business trip to Mexico City back in the '90s when kidnapping was becoming a serious problem. The guy was armed to the teeth.

26. Lambs' moms : EWES

27. Not many : A FEW

28. Indulge, with "on" : DOTE

29. Sealed tight : SHUT

33. Summer cooler : ADE

34. Bakery offering : TART

35. Presents too aggressively : OVERSELLS

36. Cave in : GIVE

37. Pigged out (on), briefly : O.D.'ED. I'm not a big fan of this word, I don't even know how to punctuate it.

39. Taunting remark : JAPE. Leaning moment. I know jape as a prank, I didn't know it as a taunt.

42. Italian noble family : ESTE. Thank you, crosses. Not familiar with this family, although they date back to 996 so they've been around for long enough.

43. Take __: decline to participate : A PASS

46. Enticement : ALLURE

47. Prevent, in legalese : ESTOP. Yuk. Thumper and move on.

48. Apple players : IPODS

49. Compact 48-Down : NANOS. My first iPod was a Shuttle - even more compact, it didn't even have a display.

50. "My concern is ... " : I FEAR

51. "You've got the wrong person!" : NOT ME!

55. Attention getter : AHEM

57. Cry out loud : WAIL

58. "Look ma, no hands!" : WHEE. Followed by "Look ma, no teeth".

60. March on Washington monogram : M.L.K.

61. Prefix with gram : EPI-

"I don't believe in astrology. I'm a Sagittarius and we're very skeptical."—Arthur C. Clarke

I think that about does it for me today. See you back in my regular slot next week!

Steve 

Wednesday, October 19, 2016 Bruce Haight

Theme: NUMBERS GAME.  The theme answers can be parsed by splitting off the last few letters, which in each case then constitute the spelt out name of a number.  These also appear in numerical order, which is a nice, elegant touch.  For some of them the pronunciation changes.  Fun theme for me, since I get a kick out of alternate parsings.

17 A. Does well at the casino? : BREAKS EVEN.   Since the house has a persistent advantage, one who BREAKS EVEN actually is doing well.  SEVEN is considered by some to be a lucky number.  So parsing this letter grouping to split off the number SEVEN might actually be a lucky BREAK.

25 A. Cereal box factoid : NET WEIGHT.   This is the WEIGHT of the contents of the box.  The weight of the container is called the tare, and added together they give you the total WEIGHT.  Maybe you'll get EIGHT servings, and eating them might affect your WEIGHT.

50 A. Opera house level : MEZZANINE.  This traces back to the Latin word for median, and refers to a building level between two floors, in this case the main auditorium and the balcony.  NINE is the number of either ladies dancing on the stage, or the Nazgul, though I'm not sure how that is relevant.

60 A. Bullied : BROW-BEATEN.  Influenced by verbal or psychological intimidation and abuse, rather than physical harm, though that might be threatened.   This can happen because the TEN Commandments did not include "Thou Salt Not BROW BEAT."

And the unifier -- 37 A. Concert finale ... and what 17-, 25-, 50- and 60-Across have in common: CLOSING NUMBER.  That's the last song of the performance, and points us to the tail end of each theme answer.  Having the unifier in the middle makes for nice symmetry, but can give away too much too soon, if you're filling in with top down sequence.

Good closing number - but we're just getting started!

Hi gang, JazzBumba on the job, though I'm not much of a numerologist.  Let's go check out the words and letters.  That's more my speed.

Across

1. Unlike this clue, obviously : LAST.  So, the LAST really will be first - at least in the context of this grid.

5. Driving force? : MOTOR.  Usually this phrase is figurative, but here, it is literal, since a MOTOR provides the driving force for a vehicle or some other kind of machine.  So why the question mark?

10. Bar regulars, and then some : SOTS.  Habitual drunkards.  The word originates in medieval Latin, coming to us via late Old English, where it referred to a foolish person.  The current meaning dates from the late 16th century.

14. Bible book before Romans : ACTS. Of The Apostles.

15. One-named singer with 10 Grammys : ADELE.

16. William of "Broadcast News" : HURT. [b 1950]

19. On : ATOP.  Sitting upon.

20. URL ending : COM.  For a commercial enterprise. Others are EDU for schools and ORG for organizations.

21. Bridge call : AHOY.   The bridge of a ship, not something uttered in a card game.

22. Hang loosely : DRAPE.  

23. Star's statuette : OSCAR.  For Academy Award winners.

28. Mushroom cloud makers : A-TESTS.    Of explosive nuclear devices.

30. Pale : WAN.  Strangely, this traces back to an Old English word meaning dark black.  Go figure.

31. __ shadow : EYE.   Cosmetic type.

32. Tip to one side : TILT.  Lean over.

33. Etiquette expert Baldrige who was Jackie Kennedy's social secretary : LETITIA. [1926-2012]  Author of 20 books and a newspaper column who also ran her own PR firm.

41. Comes back with : REPLIES.  Not RETORTS, I discovered.

42. Hardly scads : A DAB.  Some undefined small quantity

44. Beer choice, briefly : IPA.  India Pale Ale - a hoppy brew originally formulated to be stable on the long sea voyage from Mother England.

47. Part of un mes : DIA.   Spanish month and day.

48. Ready for the piano recital : IN TUNE.  I could go on and on about this, but the comma of Pythagorus is too difficult to explain.

54. "Ugh!" : YECCH.  An expression of disgust, and my reaction to this fill.

55. Climbed aboard : GOT ON.   Could also be GOT IN.

56. Some Neruda poems : ODES.  Pablo Neruda was the pen name and later legal name of Chilean poet, diplomat and politician Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto [1904 - 1973.]

58. Hawaiian tuna : AHI.  Yellowfin tuna.

59. Snack since 1912 : OREO.   Creme filling between two chocolate cookie layers.

63. Musée Marc Chagall city : NICE.  In France.

64. Ancient Greek region : IONIA.  In present day Turkey.

65. Conversation piece? : WORD.  Sentence fragment.  Make sure you parse it properly.

66. __ chair : EASY.  A place to relax.

67. Minute : TEENY. Tiny.

68. Archer of myth : EROS. Bringer of love.  This is why it's called arrowticism.

Down

1. Researcher's garb : LAB COAT.  For chemists, doctors, and lab workers.

Protects your clothes from blood and chemicals

2. Puzzle with a quote : ACROSTIC.  Explained here.

3. Recent medical research subject : STEM CELL.  An undifferentiated cell that is capable of developing into any of a variety of specific cell types.

4. Org. operating full-body scanners : TSA.  The Transportation Security Administration.

5. Prepare, as avocados for guacamole : MASH.  Guac a al Bumpa:  Two avocados, mashed; one 10 oz can diced tomatoes with green chilies; two tomatillas, finely diced; chopped cilantro, onion and garlic to taste.  Magnifico!

6. Ancient theater : ODEON.   Greek.

7. "Tradition" singer : TEVYE.  From Fiddler On The Roof.

He does have quite a bit of help

8. "Bravo!" : OLE. Cheers heard in sports arenas where Spanish is spoken.

9. "You eediot!" speaker of cartoons : REN.  Stimpy's costar.

10. Ventriloquist Lewis : SHARI.  

11. Delighted state? : OUTAGE.  Now this is clever.  When the electricity is out, you are left in the dark, powerless.

12. Prize in a case : TROPHY.   An OSCAR, frex.

13. Fla. city : ST. PETErsburg.

18. Go-__ : KART.  A small racing car with a lightweight or skeleton body.

22. Overalls material : DENIM.  Also blue jeans.

24. Financier aboard the Titanic : ASTOR.  John Jacob. [1864-1912]  He went down with the ship.

26. Strong string : TWINE.  From the same root as two and twin, a strong string made from two or more strands twisted together.

27. 1960s dance : WATUSI.

29. Add sneakily : SLIP IN.  As when late for a meeting, hoping to not be noticed.

34. China's Zhou __ : EN LAI. [1898 - 1976]   First Premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from 1949 until his death.

35. "In Here, It's Always Friday" letters : TGI.  From the Restaurant chain TGI Friday's.

36. Diminish : ABATE.  Reduce in magnitude or intensity.

38. Enterprise choice : SEDAN.   Rental car, having nothing to do with Star Trek.

39. Academic figure : EDUCATOR.  Teacher.

40. Southwestern farm owner : RANCHERO.  Spanish for rancher.  

43. Rear ends : BEHINDS.

Everybody has one

44. "See ya!" : I'M GONE.  Not quite - gotta finish the downs.

45. Everycity, USA : PEORIA.   This idea originated in one of Horatio Alger's plays.

46. Tenochtitlán natives : AZTECS.   They dominated meso-America in the 14th through 16th centuries and are noted for the practice of human sacrifice.

49. Where to see IBM and JNJ : NYSE.   Stock symbols on the New York Stock Exchange.

51. Deschanel of the musical duo She & Him : ZOOEY.

52. Whom to trust, in "The X-Files" : NO ONE.  Closing tag line used in certain episodes.

53. Astronomer Hubble : EDWIN. [1889 - 1953]  American astronomer who showed that the universe is expanding, and provided evidence that far off objects considered to be nebulae were actually galaxies. 

57. PayPal's former parent : EBAY.  

60. Morsel : BIT.  Or bite, perhaps an ort.

61. Salmon eggs : ROE.  Fish eggs, in general are referred to as ROE.

62. More than impress : AWE.  A reaction of wonder to something grand, sublime or powerful.

And thus ends this little number.  Hope you enjoyed it.  Mind your traditions and go in peace, my friends.

Cool regards!
JzB

 
Note from C.C.:

Anon T (Tony) and I made today's WSJ. You can click here to print out pdf. Read Jim's review after you're done. Congrats on your WSJ debut, Tony!
 
 

Anon T, Giza, Feb 2014

Friday, August 19, 2016 Bruce Haight

Title: Another @##% circle puzzle to irritate Barry!

We take a journey with back to back Bruce Haight Fridays. My memories of going to the ocean and looking for stones to throw were brought back. This time he packaged his effort in a rare 14 x 16 grid with a total of 70 theme squares. The 14s are grid-spanners and with so many letters in themers, there is not much room for sparkle. We do get  AM FM RADIO and  SALMON ROE.  Once again I will begin with the very clever reveal which tells us we are looking for stones in the skipped parts of fill, in the circles.

58A. Leisurely lakeside activity, and a clue for the circled letters : SKIPPING STONES (14).

16A. Reason kept to oneself : ULTERIOR MOTIVE (14). Limestone  is a sedimentary rock that contains at least 50% calcium carbonate (CaCO3). Because sedimentary rocks are made of various types of sediments, the other 50% of a limestone rock could be virtually any other mineral. Limestone originates in wet areas which mean it could also be composed of shells and waste matter from organisms.

22A. Wig out : FLIP ONE'S LID (11). Fieldstone. This is a building construction material. Strictly speaking, it is stone collected from the surface of fields where it occurs naturally. Collections of fieldstones which have been removed from arable land or pasture to allow for more effective agriculture are called clearance cairns.Coming from New England we know all about this. What movie comes to mind?

29A. Thorny thicket : BRIAR PATCH (10).  Birthstone. Am I the only one who always thinks about UNCLE REMUS?

42A. Johnny Olson catchphrase : COME ON DOWN (10). Moonstone. This is an alternate birthstone for June, but also a gem used by

48A. Bum rap : FALSE CHARGE (11). Flagstone. These flat stones are popular for making paths etc. so here is how to DIY.

Across:

1. "Anaconda" rapper Nicki : MINAJ. I am not sure why but I knew this MUSIC (4:49).

6. Sizable chunk : SLAB. Of roast beef? Or Nicki?

10. "Yuck!" : EWW. Ok, I agree. So does 63A. "Yuck!" : BLEH.

13. Carne follower, in Mexican fare : ASADA. Grilled beef.

14. Roll at the airport : TAXI. On the Taxiway.

15. Former Vietnamese emperor Bao __ : DAI. This man. LINK.

19. Barack Obama, astrologically : LEO. He has the same birthday as my step-son.

20. Old Venetian magistrate : DOGE.  You should recall THIS.

21. Boy in the first family : ABEL. All the men had four letters.

25. Country singer Clark : TERRI. The only Clark I recall is ROY, not this tall Canadian.

28. Cold weather word : TEENS. Down here that would be freezing.

34. 1953 automobile innovation : AM FM RADIO. Introduced by a Mexican Company. HISTORY.

35. Catch something : AIL. Nice simple misdirection.

38. Put away : ATE.  Nice simple misdirection.

39. Some caviar : SALMON ROE. Traditionally, the term caviar refers only to roe from wild sturgeon in the Caspian and Black Sea (Beluga, Ossetra and Sevruga caviars). Depending on the country, caviar may also be used to describe the roe of other fish such as salmon, steelhead, trout, lumpfish, whitefish, carp,and other species of sturgeon.

43. West Indian sorcery : OBEAH. Hard to discuss this PRACTICE when we do not talk religion.

47. Young partner : ERNST. CPA firm.

53. Low-cost home loan org. : FNMA. Federal National Mortgage Association.

54. Lug : HAUL.

55. Letters left of center? : EPI. Cute...left of mean a prefix.

62. "If __ again I meet him beard to beard ... ": Shak. : EER. Rar lay I do not know well, Coriolanus.

64. Whiz : MAVEN. It's back.

65. Carefree syllable : TRA. La La.

66. Fun : JEST.

67. Sarcophagus holder : CRYPT.

Down:

1. Stake-driving hammer : MAUL.

2. Part of a chain : ISLE.

3. Defense acronym : NATO. He must like this oraganization. North American Treaty Organization.

4. Thirst quencher : ADE. Thanks for the CSO Mr. H.

5. Rattle : JAR.

6. Bend : STOOP. My thought

7. Slow passage : LARGO. Musical term.

8. Guitar players, slangily : AXMEN. More likely AXE (not maul)

9. Dust jacket info : BIOgraphy.

10. Safe to put away : EDIBLE. My favorite clue.

11. Encourage to score, as a base runner : WAVE IN. Maybe not these RUNNERS.

12. Brandishes : WIELDS.

17. First name in despotism : IDI. Amin.

18. Zap : TASE.

22. Set up : FRAME. Central plot to many tv shows.

23. NYC commuter line : LIRR. Long Island Railroad.

24. Ordinal ending : ETH. This is used to create ordinal numbers from cardinal numbers ending in -y, namely the multiples of ten (other than ten itself): 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90; e.g. twentieth, thirtieth.

25. TV sched. uncertainty : TBA. To Be Announced.

26. Aunt with a "Cope Book" : ERMA.

27. Divide : RIFT.

30. El __ : PASO.

31. Maroon 5 singer Levine : ADAM.

32. Counter square : TILE.

33. Lake of Lombardy : COMO. You like this little home?

35. Auto company founder Citroën : ANDRÉ. He was an interesting MAN.

36. Golf bag item : IRON.

37. Not the best of times : LOWS.

40. Universal donor's type, briefly : O NEG.

41. Uvula doc : ENT. Ear Nose and Throat.

42. "Evita" role : CHE. Guevera.

43. Counterbalance : OFFSET. Time for the offset I?

44. Loan officer, e.g. : BANKER.

45. Twain's New York resting place : ELMIRA. This was the cemetery where his wife's family were buried. Twain lived in Connecticut and Mark Twain house is in Hartford. A high school classmate has written about the restoration and is still an ambassador. LINK.

46. "Make it snappy!" : ASAP. As Soon As Possible.

49. Country about 12 times longer than its widest point : CHILE.

50. Underwear brand : HANES.

51. Zero : AUGHT.

52. Literary monogram : RLS. Robert Louis Stevenson.

55. Green attitude? : ENVY. From the green-eyed monster in Othello. Twain also wrote of this. “It turned Brer Merlin green with envy and spite, which was a great satisfaction to me.” — A Connecticut Yankee.

56. Sound often not allowed? : PEEP. I do not want to hear a peep out of you!

57. "It __ Right": 1956 Platters' hit : ISN'T.

59. Lunchbox staple, familiarly : PBJ.

60. Cinephile's TV choice : TMC.  TCM? Or maybe AMC? The Movie Channel is owned by Showtime.

61. Tool sometimes used for steering : OAR.

Well this was fun, but I lost my write up and had to redo it all. Some changed, some did not but now it is time to wish you all well and best to all the Olympic athletes who have provided lots of entertainment. Lemonade out.

Note from C.C.:

Let's say Hello to Melissa's granddaughter Jaelyn, who was born yesterday. She was 6 pounds 13 ounces,  20.25 inches long. Congratulations, grandma Melissa!

Friday, August 12, 2016, Bruce Haight

Title: Measured endings

Bruce is back and he tops JW's 4 grid spanners last week with 5, including the reveal. We see that the end of the 4 phrases are measures (each four letters) which wonderfully appear in order from INCH to MILE. With 75 squares accounted for, there was not much room for more, but we do get ENID O.K. (which was a bear to parse) AS IT IS and the lovely SWEAR WORD (how cools to sneak a swear word in the puzzle) and the entertaining  BAT SIGNAL. Bruce is becoming a regular here, so I hope you get on his wavelength. Let's look more closely... here

We will begin with the end...

57A. Finishes a task, and a hint to hidden words in this puzzle's four other longest answers : GOES THE DISTANCE (15).

17A. Strapped : FEELING THE PINCH (15). Maybe in ITALY?

23A. "Carefree Highway" singer : GORDON LIGHTFOOT (15). Listen.

37A. Island on which much of "Jaws" was filmed : MARTHA'S VINEYARD (15). I grew up not far from this ISLAND.

47A. Grin : BREAK INTO A SMILE (15). Maybe one like....or...





Well, take your pick, we must go to work to solve the rest....

Across:

1. Read the riot act : BASTE. This was a very hard place to start, as I had no idea of this definition and resisted the perps.

6. Like tightrope walkers : AGILE. Did you all watch the AGT where the man was struck by the flaming arrow?

11. D-backs, on scoreboards : ARIzona.

14. Physics Nobelist Schrödinger : ERWIN. He and Neils Bohr are very popular in crosswords. Here is a great discussion of his CAT.

15. Attendance count : NOSES.

16. Soft slip-on : MOC. Like ALUM last week a word that may have gone beyond being an abbreviation.

20. Baja bear : OSA. Spanish.

21. Two piece? : DUET. Nicely clued.

22. Paycheck abbr. : FICA. Federal Insurance Contributions Act - though contribution seems a bit out  of place.

28. Seasoned cookers : WOKS. Does the clue WOK for you?

29. Golfer McIlroy : RORY. Another 0 for major year...two in a row.

30. Eastern noodle : UDON. More Asian influence.

32. Clued in : AWARE.

34. What might make a ewe turn? : BAA. I LOVE, LOVE this clue.

41. Many a prof : PHD.

42. In base eight : OCTAL. Straight Latin.

43. First name in jazz : ETTA. James, not ELLA.

44. Con : ANTI.

45. Free ride : PASS.

54. "Do or do not. There is no try" speaker : YODA.

55. Hyatt competitor : OMNI. They have lots of golf courses including LA Costa in Carlsbad, California which I had the pleasure of playing many times. The caddies really helped.

56. Informal British address : GUV. Is this LINK accurate Steve? NC?

62. SEALs' org. : USN.

63. Baron Cohen's Kazakh journalist : BORAT. Ali G., Borat or Bruno? ALL you need to know.

64. "... bombs bursting __" : IN AIR.

65. High pts. : MTS.

66. Bends with the breeze : SWAYS.

67. __ pitch : SALES.

Down:

1. Obscure : BEFOG.

2. Playground comeback : ARE SO. Same number of letters as AM NOT.

3. Censor's target : SWEAR WORD. Simple.

4. Up to, in ads : TIL.

5. City SSW of Wichita, KS : ENID OK.

6. Source of opera financing : ANGEL. In the earlier years they were called patrons.

7. "The Teflon Don" : GOTTI. The late mob boss, died in prison in 2002 at 62.

8. "More or less" equivalent : ISH. Ir-ish? Swed-ish? Jew-ish?

9. Casual wear biggie : LEE. I never can tell Lee from Wrangler, now I know why. Major players in US jeans include jeans companies such as Levi Strauss & Co (which owns brands like Levi’s, Dockers, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co and Denizen) and VF Corp (which owns Wrangler, Lee and Rustler brands), apparel brands such as Gap, American Eagle, Zara and H&M, and private label brands by major retailers like Wal-Mart Stores and JC Penny. Jeans world.

10. Debatable power : ESP.

11. Test that examines fetal DNA, briefly : AMNIOcentesis. The needle is enough to convince me women are stronger. My wife went through this.

12. "Fidelio" jailer : ROCCO. Beethoven's only OPERA.

13. Phased-out Apple messaging software : I CHAT. I never had any Apple products until recently and by now they switched to messenger.

18. They have their orders : NUNS. These constructors are making a habit of punny clues for nuns.

19. Questionable : IFFY.

24. "Cut that out!" : DON'T.

25. Holy __ : GRAIL. How could I resist this LINK.

26. 38-Down source : HORN.  38D. 26-Down sound : HONK. This seems a bit lazy.

27. Back into a corner, in a way : TREE.

30. One with a stay-at-home job? : UMP. Nice clue; JW and I used UMP as our fan friendly 1 across.

31. Code word : DAH. Morse code; not created by Inspector Morse.

32. Sean of "Rudy" : ASTIN. And Samwise Gamgee.

33. Penn. neighbor : W.VA.

34. Device that debuted in Detective Comics in 1942 : BAT SIGNAL. The signal first appears in Detective Comics #60, for any collectors out there.

35. Knack : ART. This is a tough way to clue this three letter fill.

36. Org. concerned with securing crowns : ADA. American Dental Association.

39. Dramatic start : ACT I. A really nicely put together clue.

40. Respectful rural response : YES'M.

44. Small power sources : AAAS.

45. Discouraging words : PANS.

46. "Given the circumstances ... " : AS IT IS. Ans so it goes.

47. Quaint words of resolve : BY GUM. By golly has never been used, by gum.

48. Place to rule : ROOST.

49. Paradises : EDENS.

50. "No more procrastinating!" : TODAY.

51. Passes over : OMITS.

52. Florida's Port St. __ : LUCIE. This may be a challenge for those who do not live or visit SoFla., as it is a CITY of about 180,000 people not known for much except being perhaps the most devastated by the real estate collapse.

53. '50s-'60s civil rights activist : EVERS. Hard to talk about this MAN and not be political, but then maybe human rights are not political?

58. "Angie Tribeca" airer : TBS. I have never watched this series from Steve Carrell, but it looks...

59. Methodology word : HOW.

60. Period : ERA.

61. Santa __, California : ANA.

Is everyone adapting to Bruce's cluing? Of course since Rich edits....did any of you read the flap over at the Fiend about a NYT puzzle where after being criticized by the posters, a constructor called out Will Shortz for changing the fill and clues in that corner?  And I thought the NYT was supposed to be the staid civilized place. Ah well I love this Corner, and thanks again Bruce and all of you. Lemonade out. Go USA; Michael Phelps is amazing. This is his 5th Olympics!!!!!!

Tuesday, April 19, 2016 Bruce Haight

 Theme: F-F

17. Maximum impact : FULL FORCE

21. Get dizzy : FEEL FAINT

34. Close pal : FAST FRIEND

43. Healthy, with "in" : FINE FETTLE

58. Beach footwear : FLIP FLOPS

66. Achilles' heel : FATAL FLAW

4. Office cabinet document holder : FILE FOLDER

9. British Invasion nickname : FAB FOUR

32. Six for you, six for me, e.g. : FIFTY-FIFTY

44. On the house : FOR FREE

Argyle here. Underwhelmed by the theme but overwhelmed by the execution of said theme. Ten theme entries covering ninety squares.

Across:

1. "Yeah, like that's gonna happen" : "AS IF ..."

5. "That's clear now" : "I SEE"

9. Honored with a big bash : FETED

14. New Jersey or California city : LODI.



population 24,136



            

15. French champagne maker founded in Germany : MUMM. The French confiscated all of the Mumm's property, although they had lived in Champagne for almost a century before World War I, because they had never become French citizens.

16. Bakery lure : AROMA

19. Olympic racer since 2008 : BMXer. More trouble in Rio.

20. Staggering dizzily : AREEL

23. "__ out!" : FAR

25. Suffix with switch : EROO

26. DJ's stack : CDs

27. Accessory for note-taking : MEMO PAD

31. __ Wiedersehen : AUF. "until we see again"

33. Lang. of Florence : ITAL. (Italian)

40. Slush __ : FUND. Often used to pay for monkey business.

41. JFK overseer : FAA. (Federal Aviation Administration)

42. Food Network's "Beat Bobby __" : FLAY. Is it worth watching?

47. IRS agent : T-MAN

48. Ukr. neighbor : ROM. (Ukraine/Romania)

49. Softball of a question : EASY ONE

51. Little newt : EFT

54. Pokes fun at : RIBS

57. Baseball : ump :: football __ : REF

61. British elevators : LIFTS

65. What the suffix "phile" means : LOVER

68. Stood : AROSE

69. Italian automaker since 1899 : FIAT. Check out the front seat facing backwards!

70. Melt fish : TUNA

71. Tentative bite : TASTE

72. Airing, as a sitcom : ON TV

73. Safecracker : YEGG. Just one of the retro entries.

Down:

1. __ Romeo: sports car : ALFA

2. Like lemons : SOUR

3. Doing nothing : IDLE

5. Texter's "If you ask me" : [IMO]. "in my opinion"

6. Browse websites : SURF

7. Oscars host, e.g. : EMCEE. (master of ceremonies(MC)

8. Mideast VIP : EMEER. One of several spellings.

10. Humorist Bombeck : ERMA

11. Poisonous : TOXIC

12. Correct, as text : EMEND

13. Game that drives home a point? : DARTS. (2:45)

18. Envelope part : FLAP

22. Pumpernickel buy : LOAF

24. U.K. fliers : RAF. (Royal Air Force)

27. Annoy : MIFF

28. Storage case for tiny scissors : ETUI

29. "Death in Venice" author Thomas : MANN. A novella first published in 1912.

30. Senseless : DAFT

35. Posed : SAT

36. Bit of folklore : TALE

37. Giggly Muppet : ELMO

38. Tandoori bread : NAAN

39. Physics unit : DYNE

45. Disney's "__ and the Detectives" : EMIL. From an old German story. Wiki

46. Place for a hoop : EAR

50. Get bought up quickly : SELL

51. Key above D : E FLAT

52. Fauna's partner : FLORA

53. Records for later, in a way : TIVOs

55. Super, at the box office : BOFFO

56. Where rain falls mainly on the plain : SPAIN

59. Bothersome insect : PEST

60. Doc's "Now!" : "STAT!"

62. Santa's access : FLUE. Sure.

63. Zesty flavor : TANG

64. Loot : SWAG

67. Off-road transport, briefly : ATV. (all-terrain vehicle)

Argyle

Wednesday, March 30, 2016 Bruce Haight

Theme:  Being in Agreement.  Common expressions indicating agreement are reimagined as being delivered by their most amusingly appropriate sources.  And, impressively, they are all grid spanners. Rather an unusual approach.  Let's have a look.

17 A. Yes, to a cowboy? : YOU BET YOUR BOOTS.  Evidently, this expression goes back to the old west, where a good pair of boots was as important as a reliable horse.   These days, they also make a fashion statement.

You bet

27 A. Yes, to an architect? : SOUNDS LIKE A PLAN.  Bit of wordplay here, equating a plan of action with a design drawing of a proposed structure.

  Let's plan on it

43 A. Yes, to a traffic court judge? : SUITS ME JUST FINE.  The traffic court judge is likely to issue a FINE, but there are other possibilities with this one.   Law SUITS are also settled in court, or one might obtain a SUIT of clothes from a haberdasher, and thus become SUITED in a FINE way.

Judges' suits are rather drab

54. Yes, to the Magic 8 Ball : IT IS DECIDEDLY SO.   The Magic 8 Ball has been available since the 1950's and is manufactured by Mattel.  It provides one of 20 possible answers to yes/no type questions. IT IS DECIDEDLY SO is one of the 10 positive answers that the Ball might provide.  The other 10 responses are evenly divided between negative and non-committal. 

Correctness of answers not guaranteed

Hi, Gang - JazzBumpa here, and in an agreeable frame of mind.  My last Blog outing at the Corner was a hair raising experience, coincidentally, also with Bruce.  Our stars also aligned back in January, so this is getting to be a bit of a habit.  Let's see if we can have positive responses to all of today's crossword questions.

Across

1. Vanna's cohort : PAT.  Sajak, not my sister PAT.    Cohort, originally a Roman military unit of 6 centuries, a 10th of a legion; hence, any group of people banded together; even more hence a supporter or companion.

Signs point to good fortune

4. Smidgens : IOTAS.  Tiny quantities.

9. Thicket : COPSE.  Originally a stand of small trees intended for cutting, presumably coming into English from the Latin colpaticum, via Old French copeiz, a cut over forest.  

14. Boston Marathon mo. : APR.  In APRil, always on Patriot's Day, this year falling on the 18th.

15. Meat and greet patio party? : BAR-B-Q.  Another pun.  Say hello to your animal part entree, cooked out of doors.  Not especially vegan friendly.

16. Skylit courtyards : ATRIA.  Generally having a glass roof.

20. Sunday service providers : CLERGY.  Another nice word play.  I'm starting to like this.

21. Switz. neighbor : AUStria.  European geography.

22. Pollen carrier : BEE.  Threatened by commercial pesticides.  If the BEEs go, they'll take us with them.

23. "M*A*S*H" Emmy winner for acting, writing and directing : ALDA.  Alan.

Read about the rum cake incident

24. German autos : BMWs.  Vehicles provided by Bayerische Motoren Werke AG.

26. Women's undergarment, briefly : CAMI.  Shortened form of CAMISOLE, a sleeveless top, usually with thin straps and extending to about the waist.  Not all are undergarments these days.

This one is

31. __ joint : HIP.   Where the leg attaches to the torso; or possibly a very cool, up to date and popular club.

32. Cracker with a scalloped edge : RITZ.  

33. [uh-oh] : GULP.  Cartoonish display of dismay or fear.

34. Provides with a soundtrack : DUBS.  Meshes the audio with the video.

35. Components of many tips : ONES.  Dollar bills.  It's been recommended to round up to the nearest five.

37. Give in to wanderlust : ROAM.  It's the journey, not the destination.

39. Shakespeare's river : AVON.   In the English midlands.  Stratford-upon-Avon is the birthplace of some guy named Will.

40. Stockholm carrier : SAS.   Formerly Scandinavian Airline System.

47. Author Rice : ANNE.  Vampire stories.  Who knew they'd be so popular?

48. Final, e.g. : EXAM.  Test of learned knowledge at the end of the school term.

49. Medicine Hat's prov. : ALTA.  Alberta.  Somewhere up north and west.

50. Shoot the breeze : YAK.  Gab.

51. Org. for docs : AMA. American Medical Association.

 52. Exited quickly, in slang : BAILED.   This is an old word with some alternate meanings.  I associate this sense of it with making a parachute jump.

58. "Divine Comedy" poet : DANTE Alighieri.

59. "Fun, Fun, Fun" car in 1960s hit : T-BIRD.

60. Make faces for the camera : MUG.

61. Labor day doc : OBGYN.  Obstetrician - gynecologist - a medical specialist in the care of specifically female body parts, also charged with the delivery of new born infants.  Another pun, if you like that sort of thing.  [I do!]

62. Church chorus : AMENS.  The response from the crowd, not the choir in the loft.  Bruce is a man after my own heart.

63. Mini-albums, briefly : EPs.   Extended Play recordings, either CD or vinyl, having more than one song, but fewer than a regular album.

Down

1. Choose paper over plastic? : PAY CASH.  Use folding currency instead of a credit card.  Who does that any more?  Though we always leave a paper tip, rather than charge it.

2. Ill-fated 1967 moon mission : APOLLO I.  The mission never occurred.  A fire in a launch rehearsal destroyed the Command Module and took the lives of the three crew members.

3. Made even, to a carpenter : TRUED UP.  On the level, as it were.   Also see 28 D for a partial clecho.

4. "__ your pardon" : I BEG.   Words spoken by somebody who elbows you.  I always respond with, "I pardon your beggin'."

5. Cheerios descriptor : OATY.  Whole grain goodness.

6. "Give it a go" : TRY.  Make the effort.

7. Blood-typing letters : A-B-O.   Based on the presence or absence of certain antibodies in the plasma and antigens in the red blood cells.

8. Kick up a fuss : SQUAWK.   Sound like an ungreased wheel.

9. Uber competitors : CABS.  Urban vehicular transportation.

10. Platte River tribe : OTO.  The Platte is in Nebraska, a tributary of the Missouri River.  The OTO [or OTOE] were a semi-nomadic people living in the Missouri basin, in what are now the states of Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri.

11. The majors : PRO BALL.   For baseball players -- and here we are with opening day coming up on Monday - finally.  For men's professional golf, The Majors are a series of 4 tournaments: The Masters, in April at the Augusta National Golf Club; The U. S. Open,played at various U. S. locations in June; the Open Championship, played at one of 10 locations in the U. K. in July, and the PGA Championship, played at various U. S. locations in August.

12. Online guide : SITE MAP.  Key to navigating a web site.

13. Enter gradually : EASE IN.  As opposed to barging or crashing.

18. Muffin mix additive : BRAN.   Might be OATY.

19. Con job : RUSE.  A deceptive trick, usually to separate someone from their money.

24. Orders with mayo : BLTS.  Tasty, crunchy sandwiches of Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato.  Yum!  I like mine on whole wheat toast, and prefer Miracle Whip to Mayo.

25. "Les __": musical nickname : MIZ.  Les Miserables, based on the novel by Victor Hugo.

26. PCs' "brains" : CPUs.   Central Processing Units

28. Karen Carpenter's instrument : DRUMS.  She was actually quite good.  It's TRUE.

29. Member of the fam : SIB.  SIBling = brother or sister, as Richard to Karen.   I only have the one.

30. One who helps you find a part? : AGENT.  For an actor, in this case.

34. Prom partner : DATE.  Oh, my, that was a long time ago.

35. Fallopian tube traveler : OVUM.   Part of the reproductive process.  It's complicated.

36. Rejections : NOs.   Words from those who were not your prom partners.

37. Drink on credit : RUN A TAB.

38. Noise from a 55-Down : OINKING.   Porcine pronouncements.

39. Multi-platinum Steely Dan album : AJA.  Pronounced "Asia."  Don't ask me why.  Here's the title track.  [8:00 minutes]

40. "I was so foolish!" : SILLY ME.   But have you ever known me to be silly?  Seriously?

41. Pays for cards : ANTES UP.    Puts in the initial bet for a poker hand.

42. Old salts : SEA DOGS.  Grizzled old sea-faring veterans.

43. Get hitched : SAY I DO.  Make a marriage vow.

44. Viral Internet phenomenon : MEME.   An idea, behavior, or style that spreads through a culture.  The internet makes it happen more quickly and frequently.

45. Two-horse wager : EXACTA.   To win, the better must predict the first and second place finishers, in the correct order.  

46. Go up in smoke : FAIL.   Or down in flames.  I love the English language.

51. Yemeni port : ADEN.   Located near the south-west tip of the Arabian peninsula, on the Gulf of Aden.

52. Capital near Zurich : BERN.  Back to the AUS neighbor, Switz.

53. Supplements, with "to" : ADDS.

55. Type of pen : STY.   Home to hogs and sows.

56. Tech giant : IBM.

57. Cube that rolls : DIE.  In Las Vegas, for example.   There is a dodecahedral icosahedral [thanks, Howard] one inside the Magic 8 Ball.

Which takes us full circle.  Or some polyhedral solid approximation thereof.   I've never taken an inventory of multiple-word answers.  There certainly were a lot of them here. And no nits.  This was great fun, as I hope you'll all agree.

Cool regards!
JzB

Notes from C.C.:

1) I've been enjoying Peter Gordon's Newsflash Crosswords the past few years. His entries and clues are super current and full of fun trivia. MERRICK GARLAND appeared in Peter's grid two days after he was nominated for the Justice post. Please click here and back his project if you love crosswords and news. You'll love each handcrafted gem from him.

2) Husker Gary is updating our Crossword Corner map. Regulars who want to add their name to the map, please email Gary (gschlapfer@gmail.com). Please also let him know if you want to drop your name from the map. Gary will publish an update map next Wednesday.