Sunday May 7, 2017 Paul Coulter

Theme: "French Connection" - Two words of the same meanings & same letter count are placed side by side. The first one is of French origin.

22A. Outcome : DENOUEMENT. Notice all the French-rooted words are English words.   J'AI FAIM & I'M HUNGRY won't work. Wrong letter count also.

24A. Outcome : RESOLUTION

38A. "Win some, lose some" : C'EST LA VIE

41A. "Win some, lose some" : THAT'S LIFE. Same clues too of course.
 
65A. Bare : AU NATUREL

68A. Bare : BUCK-NAKED
  
91A. "Confidentially ... " : ENTRE NOUS. Also the title of this popular book. The author is actually an American.
 

94A. "Confidentially ... " : BETWEEN US
 
110A. Fine dining aficionados : BON VIVANTS

113A. Fine dining aficionados : EPICUREANS. Our Steve is one. Does the new consulting gig mean you've left Oracle?

All the French words are placed in front. Very consistent.

The separate 10 theme entries work like grid-spanners, in a way. I don't believe Paul put those black square stair steps in the middle on purpose. Just the result of grid design restrictions.

Across:    

1. Starbucks serving : LATTE. Not MOCHA.

6. Pound foot? : IAMB. Ezra Pound.

10. Busy co. on Mother's Day : FTD. Our flea markets here officially kick off on Mother's Day. Some open today. Yay!

13. Put forward : POSED

18. Get too close to : CROWD

19. Françoise's friend : AMIE. 98. Coup target : ETAT. Stray French.

20. __ moment : AHA. Not IN A.

21. Capricious : FICKLE

26. It's a long story : SAGA

27. Advanced legal deg. : LLM. Master of Laws. Not LLD today. Also 44. Legal agreement : LEASE

28. Souvenirs with three holes in them : TEES. I was picturing a bowling ball. Pricey souvenir.

30. Is down with : HAS

31. Dr.'s order : MRI. Not EEG/MED


32. Keisters : CABOOSES

35. 640 acres: Abbr. : SQ MI. Drew a blank.

37. Hosea contemporary : AMOS. Biblical prophets. Also 52. Mount delivery : SERMON

 
45. Countryman of Gary Player : ERNIE ELS. George (Big Easy on our blog) has met Ernie Els a few times. Different format at Zurich Classic this year.

47. Training group : CADRE

50. One may be named for a president : ERA

51. Spread out : SPLAY
 
53. Onward in time : FORTH. Not AHEAD.

56. Often elided pronoun : YOU ALL

58. Grandpa Walton portrayer : GEER (Will). Used him in my own grid once.

60. Like Perot in the 1992 pres. election : IND (Independent)

61. The '70s, in a Tom Wolfe essay : ME DECADE

63. "When We Were Kings" subject : ALI

64. __ club : GLEE. Not GOLF.

70. Put __ appearance : IN AN. I had ON AN.

71. Org. with lanes : PBA.  Lisa, one of Boomer's bowling friends, had two perfect games in a row in February. Their Monday league has many top bowlers.

72. Elegantly, to Vivaldi : GRAZIOSO. New word to me. Sounds thankful.

74. Offense : SIN

75. Bell curve figure : MEAN. Got via crosses.

76. Like a quarter's edge : REEDED. Not a word I use.

77. Coagulates : CLOTS

81. Rifled : LOOTED

83. In the cards : FATED

84. Routine first baseman? : WHO. Who's on First?

85. Go after : ENSUE. TTP is chasing morels these days. Do you eat them fresh or do you dry them?

86. Mushers' transports : DOG SLEDS

89. "I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie" author : EBERT

96. Gospel singer Winans : CECE. Same pronunciation as my name, right?
 
99. The 3rd Avenue line was the last of them to operate in Manhattan : EL TRAINS. Drew a blank.

101. Beatle bride : ONO

102. Actress Garner, familiarly : JEN. Wish they were still together.

103. Fill past full : SATE

105. Singer DiFranco : ANI

106. Sorts : ILKS

 116. Senescence : OLD AGE. Senescence sounds old.

117. Even so : YET

118. Take-out order? : DELE. Gimme for regulars.

119. Snowy __ : EGRET

120. Holds up : LASTS

121. News letters : UPI

122. Cheek : SASS

123. Chinese toys, for short : PEKES. Toy dogs.

Down:

1. Some SLR displays : LCDs

2. Side squared, for a square : AREA

3. Chinese secret society : TONG. A bit obscure.

4. Feature of many Broadway musicals : TWO ACTS

5. Email ending : EDU

6. 1975 Jackson 5 hit : I AM LOVE. The answer filled in itself.

7. Autobiographical subtitle : A MEMOIR

8. Time div. : MIN

9. Actress Davis : BETTE

10. Make out : FARE

11. Site of Mount Olympus : THESSALY. Somewhere here.

12. "__ Kapital" : DAS

13. Name of 12 popes : PIUS

14. Fall mo. : OCT

15. Whole alternative, in Nottingham : SKIMMED MILK. Skimmed makes better sense.

16. Ecuadoran province once famous for its gold : EL ORO

17. Patron saint of France : DENIS. Sometimes it's DENYS.

21. Swing wildly : FLAIL

23. Island near Corsica : ELBA. BunnyM is going to her little island in the Mexican Caribbean next week. They go there every year to celebrate their wedding anniversary, I think.

25. Resistance units : OHMs

29. Co-star of Bea, Betty and Rue : ESTELLE. "The Golden Girls"

33. Amber __ : ALE

34. Erotic : SENSUAL

36. Parts of gals. : QTs

37. A long way off : AFAR

38. Pitch indicator : CLEF. Musical pitch!

39. Architect Saarinen : EERO

40. Coal-rich German region : SAAR

42. Get better : HEAL. Positive thoughts to our Lemonade and a few others. Hope all's good, Spitzboov!


43. Champagne bucket, e.g. : ICER

46. Apple variety : iPAD

48. Actress Blakley : RONEE. Forgot. We had  her a while ago.

49. Cut off : ENDED

52. Watch word? : SEIKO. Tricky clue. Plus, so many five-letter watch brands.

54. Fed after tax evaders : T-MAN

55. Worked (up) : HET

56. __ Buena, town that became San Francisco : YERBA

57. Continental divide? : OCEAN. Great clue.

58. Surgical dressing : GAUZE

59. Castilian hero : EL CID

62. Had : DUPED

64. Canterbury pen : GAOL. Jail.

65. Bridal path : AISLE. Side by side with 66. Wedding : UNION

67. They go by in a flash : NANOSECONDS. Another great clue/fill combo.

68. Banker's bane : BAD DEBT

69. Pres. advisory team : NSC

72. Prepares : GETS SET

73. It holds the line : REEL

75. Face : MEET

76. Popular pasta topping : RAGU. Staple in our household.

78. Actor Wilson : OWEN

79. By way of, briefly : THRU

80. Tipplers : SOTS

82. Air : TUNE

83. One may echo in an alley : FOOTSTEP. The image reminds me of the frequent plot device in Chinese movies about 1940's.

86. Chain letters? : DNA. Fun clue also.


87. Obstructs the progress of : DERAILS

88. Batting positions : STANCES

89. Poetic dusk : E'EN. Evening.

90. Surround : BESIEGE

92. Superman player : REEVE

93. It towers over Taormina : ETNA. Not familial with Taormina. I do know 104. Italian wine center : ASTI

95. 2012 Nintendo debut : WII U

96. Early computer language : COBOL

97. __ Gay: WWII bomber : ENOLA

100. West Yorkshire city : LEEDS

102. Sprightly dances : JIGS

107. Frolic : LARK

108. Cap site : KNEE. Kneecap.


109. Retired fliers : SSTs

111. Winery sight : VAT

112. Manhattan sch. : NYU

114. Patch grower : PEA. No peas in our small garden. I do love sugar peas.

115. Gym unit : REP

Friday, April, 21, 2017, Paul Coulter

Title: CONDENSATION

Husker Gary in today for Lemon who is on the Disabled List, hopefully on a temporary basis! Paul has chosen six two-word phrases where the last letters of the first word are also the first letters of the second word as you can see in the grid below. Then he clues the resulting silly phrase with overlapping letters as an economy of letters in making his ENGAGINGENIOUS theme. 

Let's investigate the PLEASANTICS of Paul's in his six, count 'em,  six, theme answers

17. Compressed "Blue Suede Shoes" as sung by Elvis? : COVERSION - One of Elvis' first big hits was a COVER VERSION of a song originally done by Carl Perkins

28. Compressed piece of hardware? : COMPUTERMINAL -Alan Turig's "Bombe" built to decipher German Enigma codes was a forerunner of the modern COMPUTER TERMINAL

21. Compressed syntax topic? : WORDER - WORD ORDER can be slightly different in Spanish. 

44. Compressed Homeland Security role? : COUNTERRORISM - Both sides of any conflict have COUNTER TERRORISM strategies

52. Compressed carnivore? : MEATER - A MEAT EATER who lives with a vegetarian

57. Compressed gastric complaints? : STOMACHES - Astronauts can get STOMACH ACHES in 0g. They can just swallow this water bubble and its fizzy contents

Now for the rest of Paul's cluing in this FUNBELIEVABLE puzzle

Across

1. African currency : RAND - Who gets the fries in this R99 Durban, South Africa deal?

5. Tater __ : TOTS

9. U.K. equivalent of an Oscar : BAFTA - British Academy of Film and Television Fine Arts

14. Burnt toast indicator : ODOR - A man next to me at a Denny's once ordered burnt toast

15. Heroic poetry : EPOS - A word I learned and forgot in this venue

16. Noble objective : IDEAL 

19. Make happen : CAUSE

20. Imply : GET AT - Speaking of ODOR - "What is she trying to GET AT?"

22. Ecol., e.g. : SCI

25. Traitor : RAT 

26. Canal locale : EAR - The only thing you should put in your ear is your elbow

27. Emerson's "jealous mistress" : ART - "It makes a bad husband and poor provider"

32. Nordic counterpart : ALPINE - Today's puzzle theme inspired me to choose this TV overlapping gimmick composed of two competing ALPINE skiers 

33. Heat source : OIL

34. Judgment concern : BIAS

37. Nothing, in Nice : RIEN

38. On the other hand : BUT

39. Salinger title character with professional singing aspirations : ESME - How do I clue thee? Let me count the ways.

40. Creative singing style : SCAT - Did you forget the words, Ella? :-) 

41. Home sick, say : OUT - Did you ever call in sick and try to sound as sick as you can on the phone? Uh, me either. 

42. Perfumery compound : ACETAL - I never cared for organic chemistry 

47. "That's awful!" : UGH

49. Lush : SOT

50. Tiebreakers, briefly : OT'S - A t-shirt celebrating an Orangemen sextuple OT win 

51. Old anti-Union gp. : CSA  and 57. The CSA's eleven : STS - What if they had won?

54. Manuscript marks : STETS

56. Austrian composer Berg : ALBAN - If Paul says so...

61. Author known for teddy bear stories : MILNE

62. Amos at the piano : TORI

63. The last Mrs. Chaplin : OONA - OONA's celebrated dad, playwright Eugene O'Neill, ended their relationship when she married Charlie who was 36 years her senior. 

64. Latin clarifier : ID EST - ID EST, "That is" we know more familiarly as "i.e."

65. Smart answer, sometimes : SASS  but not 60. KLM competitor : SAS - A follow-up on Wednesday's sassy discussion here

66. Terrible time : TWO'S

Down

1. Elephant predator of myth : ROC - From Arabic   رخ (rukk), an enormous legendary bird of  prey

2. Brouhaha : ADO - Brouhaha seems pretentious to my ear

3. Scorpio mo. : NOV

4. Remnant : DREG - In It Was A Very Good Year, Old Blue Eyes sang, "And now I think of my life as vintage wine, From fine old kegs, From the brim to the DREGS" 

5. Willed? : TESTATE - The lower example

6. Sleep inducer : OPIATE - Not a good long term solution

7. Binge : TOOT

8. Identity thief's target: Abbr. : SSN - He stopped running this ad after his identity was stolen 13 times

9. Crescent-shaped : BICORN - A UNICORN variance

10. Purim month : ADAR

11. Like a Middle Ages social system : FEUDALISTIC 

12. It's a stunner : TASER - These will cover the waterfront

13. It may be red : ALERT

18. "Friends" episode, now : RERUN - How did they have no minority Friends in NYC?

21. Knock 'em dead at the jazz club : WAIL

22. Lasting marks : SCARS - Mine is in a place you will never see

23. Infant illness : COLIC - Col. Potter's horse Sophie had COLIC in a M*A*S*H episode

24. Like high-level treason : IMPEACHABLE

26. Put out : EMIT

29. It's spotted in Westerns : PINTO - Tonto on his PINTO, Scout

30. Way to go : ROUTE

31. "Drink __": 2014 Luke Bryan #1 country hit : A BEER - "So I'm gonna sit right here, On the edge of this pier, Watch the sunset disappear and Drink A BEER". Eat yer out Shakespeare!

35. Gather : AMASS

36. 1965 march site : SELMA - I wonder per cent of people that claim to have been at SELMA or Woodstock actually were

38. Target : BUTT - Of a joke

41. __ about : ON OR

42. Diana's Greek counterpart : ARTEMIS

43. Spanish seashore : COSTA

45. Early online forum : USENET

46. Chopper parts : ROTORS

47. Savory taste : UMAMI 

48. Very cold : GELID - "Eventually boots and socks had to be removed and ankles submitted to the GELID waters" Sunday Times (2013)

53. Beige cousins : TANS

54. Portico for Pericles : STOA

55. Conan Doyle, for one : SCOT

58. The sixth W? : HOW

59. "Ambient 1: Music for Airports" artist : ENO - This would be "TAN music" at ORD

Now it's time for your condensed or unabridged comments. Perhaps you can come up with some variations on Paul's THEMETHOD.

Friday March 17, 2017, Paul Coulter

To celebrate St. Paddy's day, here's a beautiful version of When Irish Eyes Are Smilin' by the Irish tenor who was a foil for Jack Benny for years. It makes for lovely background music!

Now, for sure and begorrah, let's be gettin' down to the puzzle!

TITLE: BACK TO FRONT

On this St. Paddy's Day, Lemon has put himself on the injured reserve list and C.C. has brought me, Husker Gary, up from the minors to take the mound.

Paul's lovely offering dredges up memories of a recent Sunday puzzle I blogged where I also put the grid at the top. In that puzzle a word was put IN the middle of a silly phrase and had to be repositioned to the front to make sense. Today Paul forces us to take the last word of a silly phrase and transport it to the front to make a single, familiar word. 

Obviously the puzzle needed no reveal, so here are the theme entries

16. Laboratory scam? : SCIENCE CON/CONSCIENCE - Jiminy's counsel to Pinnochio took a while to sink in

28. Snubbing a testimonial? : TRIBUTE DIS/DISTRIBUTE - A good passer is called a good DISTRIBUTOR

45. John Deere rep? : TRACTOR PRO/PROTRACTOR - For some reason kids often ask for a compass when they really want a PROTRACTOR

61. Ordinary law office employee? : NORMAL PARA/PARANORMAL - JoBeth Williams confronts a PARANORMAL creature in Poltergeist 

Let's see what else our Literary Leprechaun has for us today

Across

1. "Oopsy" : MY BAD

6. Grand Prix component : ESS - Curve, here's one

9. In things : FADS - Joann, where's my Nehru jacket?

13. Adult insect : IMAGO - I've only heard it here

14. Prefix with data : META - It seems someone has lots of this on all of us

15. Subject preceder : IN RE

18. Saves, say : STAT - Usually accrued by soccer and hockey goalies 

19. Challenge : CALL OUT - Matt Dillon faced one of these at the start of every episode

20. Like some flushes : ACE HIGH

22. Missed the mark : ERRED

24. Spike TV, once : TNN - The Nashville Network

25. Nile threats : ASPS

33. Take for a while : LEASE

35. B to C, e.g. : SEMITONE 

36. Call off : END

37. Something shared on a plane : ARMREST - Sound right?

40. Pres. when Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was decided : DDE - Ike

41. "The Social Contract" author : ROUSSEAU - Jacques - "What wisdom can be greater than kindness?"

43. Hindu ascetics : YOGIS - Did any of them catch for the Yankees?

48. Old Nair rival : NEET

49. "You betcha!" : YEP

50. Mozart opera ending : TUTTE - Cosi Fan TUTTE (Women are like that). Like what?

52. Spendthrift : WASTREL

56. Hospital test : MRI SCAN - I just listened to talk shows on my iPhone

60. Large deep-water fish : OPAH






63. Actor Auberjonois : RENE - Fr. Mulcahy in the 1970 movie M*A*S*H

64. Relaxed : EASY

65. Refresh, as a cup of coffee : TOP UP - Is this also a Mardi Gras tradition?

66. Participants in some awkward meetings : EXES

67. Case breaker, perhaps : DNA - Uh, Number 2, you might wanna have a seat

68. Flower holders : STEMS - Not a vayse or a vahze

Down

1. Category for non-recurring pd. bills : MISC

2. 1979 disco classic : YMCA

3. Payment that's posted : BAIL - Remember who sponsored The Bad News Bears? Now you can order a jersey!

4. Eternal : AGELESS - Dick Clark's middle name for years

5. Philanthropist, e.g. : DONOR

6. Common Market letters : European Economic Community

7. Ancient colonnade : STOA

8. Sacred sites : SANCTUMS

9. Stocking stuff : FISH NET - Maybe Splynter will have some for us tomorrow

10. Not backing : ANTI

11. Party pooper : DRAG

12. First family member : SETH 

14. Poet's concern : METER

17. Short : CURT

21. Being : ENTITY

23. Throw into turmoil : DISRUPT

25. On the ball : ALERT

26. Monterrey title : SENOR

27. "The Taming of the Shrew" setting : PADUA - The Montana Shakespeare In The Park Troupe chose a different setting but used Elizabethan English (mostly) 

32. Notice from Shakespeare? : SEEST - Didst thee SEEST the setting for Taming Of The Shrew cameth ere?

29. Obsessive idea metaphor : BEE - Busy as a...


30. Caravan assembler : DODGE - The original minivan - 1984

31. Common Sundance entry : INDIE

34. Time for eggs : EASTER

38. Worked on, as a cold case : REOPENED - They haven't REOPENED the Cain and Abel case. How many witnesses could there have been?

39. Fold, spindle or mutilate : MAR

42. Crop cutters : SCYTHES

44. Buck : ONESPOT - Really?

46. Gin __ : RUMMY - Remember this Bond Villain who cheated at Gin RUMMY using a spy with binoculars and an earpiece? 

47. Other, in Oaxaca : OTRA - No, descartar la OTRA tarjeta (No, discard the other card)

51. Slopes : TILTS

52. Had on : WORE 

53. Top : APEX

54. Fit to be tried : SANE - Two psychiatrists testified as to whether this Omaha man was SANE enough to stand trial for his four murders.

55. Student's request : LOAN 

57. Vacation spot : CAPE

58. Jack-in-the-pulpit family : ARUM

59. Gets caught off guard : NAPS

62. The ANC's country : RSA - Republic of South Africa

Now before you start celebrating reasonably (let your conscience be your guide), how 'bout some comments: