Friday, Aug 14, 2020 Jerry Edelstein

"Sounds Like: Fun With Homophones"

17. Drove by the campsite?: PASSED TENTS.    Past Tense

25. Johann Sebastian and Johann Christian?: MALE BACHS.    Mailbox

35. Carpenter's work station?: PLANE SITE.    Plain Sight

49. Bird popularity surveys?: FOWLPOLLS.    Foul Poles

58. Wildebeests coming to a screeching halt?: BRAKING GNUS.    Breaking News 

This answer was flat out funny to me.   Couldn't find a suitable picture of gnus braking, but did find this happy boy.

 

Jerry should win a pullet surprise for creating these new homophones and definitions. 

Across:

1. Peak on the 1,000-yen note: FUJI. 

5. Kicked: BOOTED.

11. __ bod: DAD.    Here's the blog post that went viral in 2015 and brought national attention to the term dad bod:    Why Girls Love The Dad Bod

14. Sign not always recognized: OMEN.    

15. "Sanford and Son" son: LAMONT.   I loved that show.   Aunt Esther was always sticking her nose in Fred and Lamont's business.   Lamont would try keep the peace, but Fred always had some funny reply to get her even more fired up.  

16. Wool coat wearer: EWE.

19. Hist. majors' degrees: BAs.

20. Half a cocktail hour pair: TONG.

21. Needlefish: GAR.  2 minute YouTube video   on the needlefish.  

22. Winery sight: CASK.   If the answer was only three letters, we would most likely answer "tun".    A tun is 252 gallons.    That's the largest cask shown below.

If you look closely at this graphic, you'll see that the name for the cask that holds half of a tun is called a butt.  

So if it was fully loaded with wine, you would have a buttload.   Who knew that a buttload was a real measurement ?

23. It may be proven in court: GUILT.

27. Soap opera plot staple: AMNESIA.

29. Kemper who plays Kimmy Schmidt: ELLIE.   No idea, but the perps were kind.

30. Car stat: MPG.

31. Buckle: GIVE.   Buckle as a verb rather than as a noun.   As in, buckle under pressure.   But if you buckle down, you are not giving in.   And if you buckle up, the life you save may be your own.

34. Big game, say: EVENT.

38. Scotch-Brite cleaning product: DOBIE.

41. 9, at times: Abbr.: SEPT. ember.

42. Race unit: LAP.

45. First name on a 1945 bomber: ENOLA.   Second name on a 1945 bomber: Gay.

46. Polite response: YES MAAM.

53. Presidents take them: OATHs.

54. Song and dance: ARTs.   As are Carney and Linkletter.

55. Pod resident?: PEA.

56. "Picnic" dramatist: INGE.   A 1953 play written by William Inge.   Paul Newman had his Broadway debut in this play.

57. Fifth-century date: CDI.    401 in Roman numerals.   About the time of the beginning of the fall of the Roman Empire.   (I like looking things up)

62. Get ready to drive, with "up": TEE.  

63. Place for a shot: TAVERN.

64. Distasteful: ICKY.

65. Surg. facilities: ORs.

66. Location query opener: "WHERE'S  the beef ?",  asked Clara Peller.

67. Viewed warily: EYED.

Down:

1. Dandy: FOP.   A Beau Brummell. 

2. Thurman of the 2005 film "Prime": UMA.     I watched most of this movie sometime in the last six months.   Uma played a newly divorced 37 year old that falls in love with a 22 year old recent graduate.   She is seeing a therapist to help her deal with her divorce.  She confides to her therapist about her young lover.   The therapist soon realizes the young lover is her son.   Her therapist is played by Meryl Streep.   

The film started strong and hooked me in, but the story line quickly grew weak and somewhat dragged.   The only thing that kept me from turning it off earlier was watching Meryl Streep.    Love her subtle expressions of emotions.   

3. Having fun: JESTING.   WGN anchors Robert Jordan and Jackie Bange having some fun during a commercial break back in 2009.

The story behind ... epic commercial break handshake 

4. Shoe part: INSOLE.

5. Apt. house: BLDG.

6. __ grass: OAT.

7. Breitling competitor: OMEGA.

Jerry Seinfeld has a collection of Breitling watches.  

8. Relating to pitches: TONAL.   There are four tones in Mandarin Chinese, with a fifth neutral tone.     Kevin Salat, the constructor that introduced us to the word tauromachy on Saturday, August 1st, speaks Mandarin.

9. Between, in Brest: ENTRE.    For those of us that do not parlay voo French but do solve crosswords, it's just a matter of remembering some of the common phrases we see in clues and answers.  e.g.,  entr'acte (between the acts) and entre nous (just between us).

Of course you would have to assume we are talking about Brest, France and not Brest, Belarus.    In Belarusian, between would be паміж.

10. Drying-out hurdle: DTs.    Delirium Tremens.

11. Total disaster: .

12. Loaded with: AWASH IN.

13. It might contain an inbox: DESK SET.   Not related to the clue, but I thought of Desk Set, starring Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy.  IMO, it was one of their better movies.    The screenplay was written by Phoebe and Henry Ephron.   Harry was also the producer.    Yes, you are correct.   They are the parents of Nora.    We often see her here with clues related to her RomComs Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally.

18. Tolkien creatures: ENTs.

22. Have a cow: CALVE.    This fun clue did not fool PK or Spitzboov.   I would not be surprised to learn that she helped deliver a few.

23. School of whales: GAM.   Sometimes it is a pod.

24. Foul line watcher, at times: UMP.   Sometimes with ire.    Double entendre.   Umpire and ump ire  :>)  

25. Water conduits: MAINS.

26. Red-rooted plant, usually: BEET.  

28. Food chain letters: IGA.  "Hometown Proud"

32. Flying formation: VEE.

33. Athletic awards: ESPYs.   Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly awards.

35. Some tablets: PILLs.

36. It may be quantum: LEAP.

37. Resident's suffix: ITE.

38. In reality: DE FACTO.

39. Awaiting shipment: ON ORDER.

40. Donald Duck and Winston Churchill wear them: BOW TIEs.   

42. Bulbs' pre-bloom condition: LATENCY.

43. Sound of delight: AAH.

44. U.K. leaders: PMs.

47. Musical number: SONG.

48. Smith who played Violet on "Downton Abbey": MAGGIE.   I was clueless.  The answer  perped in. 

50. Part of OWN: OPRAH.   The Oprah Winfrey Network.

51. Go: LEAVE.

52. James, since 2018: LAKER.   Lebron James,  NBA superstar playing for the Los Angeles Lakers. 

56. 1,000+ Holidays: INNs.   Tricky clue, easy answer.   Just looked it up to get a real count.  As of Sept 2018, there were 1173 Holiday Inns.

58. Texter's "just so you know": BTW.     By The Way.   

59. Wrath: IRE.   Sometimes directed at umps.

60. Hawaiian strings: UKE.    Ukulele.   Spelled out to reinforce the spelling.  

61. Barrett of Pink Floyd: SYD.    A founding member of the English band before they became really popular. 

Friday, June 26, 2020 Mark McClain

20. Avian athletic contest?: GAME OF FINCHES.

28. Advanced degree for a gemologist?: DOCTOR OF FLAWS.

47. Metropolis, thanks to Superman?: CITY OF FLIGHTS.

57. Flunk out ... and what three long answers do?: GET STRAIGHT FS.

Editor Rich tossed us a softball today by scheduling this puzzle of Mark's puzzle for a Friday.   Don't get me wrong.  I always enjoy solving Mark's puzzles.   He's definitely in my top 5 favorite constructors.   But IMHO, this was way, way too easy for a Friday.  

I loved each of the the three theme answers, but was perplexed about the answer to 9D, IN A HUFF.  It obviously doesn't fit with the theme answers in the sense of a known phrase that changes meaning because of the added F, but the 2 efs in huff gave pause.   

Across:

1. President before Wilson: TAFT.

5. Sign of shock: GASP.

9. Classical inspiration for the 2004 film "Troy": ILIAD.   Troy ?   Hello, Irish Miss !   Hope you are feeling a little better. 

14. Another, in Mexico: OTRO.   Fill in OTR and check the perp to decide if it will be A (feminine) or O (masculine).   Oh no !  The perp is also Spanish.   Good thing we all know the Spanish word for bullfighter.

15. __ ID: USER.   You can make your USERIDs complex, but there's no need.   Keep them simple.  Make your passwords complex, and change them frequently. 

16. Chip in a bowl: NACHO.   Doritos Nacho Cheese are favored chips in this casa.

17. Almost at: NEAR.

18. Long vehicle: LIMO.  A conversation starter for your Limo driver ?  It's derived from Limousine.   From Limousin, a region in France.  A Gallic tribe (Celtics on the continent) lived there in the time of Caesar.   They were known as Lemovices, which means "those who vanquish by the elm."  Lemo - elm, and uices - victors.   In the end, their elm bows and lances were no match as Caesar's armies laid siege.  Even though the Roman Army was outnumbered 4 to 1, they won the battle and claimed Gaul once and for all as a Roman province.   If you driver has no interest,  just talk about the weather.

19. It has no subs: A TEAM.   Loved this clue.

23. Like a disciplinarian: STERN.

24. Torque symbol, in mechanics: TAU.

25. RV chain: KOA. 

33. Ominous: DIRE.

34. Destinies: FATEs.  There were three Goddesses of Fates, as we learned in Steve's write up on June 18th.  They were Clotho the Spinner, Lachesis the Alloter, and Atropos the Inflexible.   Speaking of destinies, the all girl group Destiny's Child consisted of Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams.

35. Push-up targets: PECs.   Pectoral muscles. 

39. Not against the rules: LEGAL.   Licit.

42. Like a hairpin: BENT.

43. Stretched circles?: OVALs.

45. Brewpub array: ALEs. 

52. Corrida cheer: OLE.  For the torero. 

53. Waze suggestion: Abbr.: RTE.   Waze is a GPS app from Google.

54. Estée Lauder subsidiary: AVEDA.   Never heard of it until solving C.C.'s "Back to Basics" crossword puzzle last Sunday.    She remarked in the review that it is a Minnesota based company owned by Estee Lauder.

62. Problematic bacterium: E. coli.

64. The Mississippi forms its eastern border: IOWA.   And the Missouri forms most of its western border.

65. Northern European capital: OSLO.

66. Singer nicknamed "The Velvet Fog": TORME.   I read that at age 19 he composed the music and co-wrote the lyrics for this song made famous by Nat King Cole.


67. Visible pollution: SMOG.   Fog and then smog ? And ice crystals in the air forming a sundog ?

68. Comics icon Lee: STAN.   Marvel Comics. 

69. Vast chasm: ABYSS.

70. Sun dog, e.g.: HALO.  I believe you pretty much have to be in a colder climate like the northern states or Canada to see these when the sun is at the horizon.

71. Carry: TOTE.

Down:

1. Kitchen picker-uppers: TONGs.

2. Patronized, as a diner: ATE AT.

3. Like many museum paintings: FRAMED. 

4. Corrida star: TORERO.   Bullfight star:  Bullfighter.

5. Wide gap: GULF.

6. "Dream on!": AS IF.

7. Big rig: SEMI.   One of my "other duties" in the Army was driving one of these M818  5 ton tractor trucks.   Mine was a -A2 multifuel with  a ragtop and a semi trailer rather than the lowboy pictured.  10 wheels on 3 driven axles with a lot of torque, and no creature comforts in the cab. 

8. Stat relative: PRONTO.

9. Highly annoyed: IN A HUFF.

10. Having missed the deadline: LATE.

11. Item of hockey equipment: ICE SKATE.  Like some potato chips, one is usually not enough.

12. Cry of discovery: AHA.

13. Champagne title: DOM.

21. Like much '80s-'90s music: ON CD.

22. Half-__: coffee order: CAF.

26. Wilson who voiced Lightning McQueen in "Cars" films: OWEN.  Also the first name of our resident poet and host of Jumblehints Blogspot

27. A new exec may hire one: ASST.   The position title is usually ...

29. Shop __ you drop: 'TIL.   "Honey, look how much money I saved !"

30. Hematite, for one: ORE.  Properties, uses, and occurrence of the most important ore of iron. Among others, ballast for ships, protection from x-rays, and jeweler's rouge.  DNK.

31. Fit for a queen: REGAL.

32. Yellow __: LAB.   The most popular dog in the United States is the Labrador.

35. Somewhat, to Schubert: POCO.    When it came to music, he was anything but poco.   One of the most prolific composers of all time.  Schubert only lived to age 31.   Steve had poco yesterday in Joe Denney's puzzle yesterday with the clue [Slightly, in scores].

36. Villainous: EVIL.

37. One in a Trivial Pursuit sextet: CATEGORY.

38. Slick: SLY.

40. Big name in Islam: ALI.

41. KFC selection: LEG.

44. Military pilot's missions: SORTIEs.

46. Heavy carpet: SHAG.

48. NBA foul shots: FTs.  Free throws.

49. Magic charm: FETISH.
   1.  any object believed by some person or group to have magic power

   2.  any thing or activity to which one is irrationally devoted to make a fetish of sports

   3.  Psychiatry any nonsexual object, such as a foot or a glove, that abnormally excites erotic      feelings

50. Jay Leno, for many years: TV HOST. 

51. Starts: SETS TO. 

55. Key of Chopin's "Minute Waltz": D FLAT.

56. In concert: AS ONE.  Harmony, unity, accord

58. "Slippery" trees: ELMs.

59. Capital SSE of Firenze: ROMA.  Florence  / Rome in Italian.

60. Nowhere to be found: AWOL.

61. "Aladdin" parrot: IAGO.

62. Pilot's approx.: ETA.

63. Corn discard: COB.