Wednesday, September 23, 2020 Joe Deeney

Theme:  YOU'RE CONFUSED.  The letters of the contraction YOU'RE are scrambled in the theme entries. Or, as the unifier has it --

55 A. Judge's words ... and a hint to this puzzle's circles: YOU'RE OUT OF ORDER.  This indicates the mixing up of the letters.  Outside of the puzzle, the sentence indicates that YOU'RE not following the prescribed or established procedures for a meeting, legislative assembly, debate, or - in this case - a court of law.

Let's see how it works.

17 A. University offerings: FOUR YEAR DEGREES.  Typically, it takes FOUR YEARS as a full time student to earn a bachelor's degree in most fields of study.  Here the subject letters are scattered over the first two words of the fill.  

26 A. Bob Dylan title lyrics that follow "in my heart you'll always stay": FOREVER YOUNG.  Here, the letters span both words.

x

42 A. "The Wrestler" Oscar nominee: MICKEY ROURKE.  Again the letters span both words of his name.

Hi Gang.  JazzBumba here.  The theme, though mixed up, is pretty straight forward.   Let's unravel the rest of today's puzzle. 

Across:

1. Bits of trash often swept up with popcorn: STUBS.  Ticket scraps in movie theaters.  Ahh - the nostalgia.

6. Outdoor party rental: TENT.  Protects the guests from direct sunlight, but - we hops - not from rain.

10. Creek croaker: TOAD.  Could have been a FROG.  Needed some perps to hop into place.

14. Like much beer: ON TAP.  Draft beer.  In a tavern.  Sadly, these location are primary virus spread hazards.

15. "Dude!": BRAH.  Probably derived from "bro," which is probably derived from brother.

16. Nashville highlight: OPRY.  It's grand, and it's old.

20. Open patio: ATRIUM.  An open-roofed hall or court.

21. Original angel on "Charlie's Angels": SABRINA. played by Kate Jackson.

Sabrina Duncan

22. Driver's role in "Star Wars" sequels: REN.  Adam Driver played Kylo Ren, the dark side son of Han Solo and princess Leia.

23. Easiness exemplar: PIE.  Figuring out why is not as easy.  

25. Johns in Scotland: IANS.  The name "John" in Scottish dialect.  It has nothing to do with the loo.

31. Hopeless, as a situation: NO WIN.  When all the alternatives are bad.

34. Tears to shreds: RENDS.

35. Cause of some royal insomnia: PEA.  For a fairy tale princess on a stack of mattresses.

36. Leave out: OMIT.

37. Ties together: BINDS.

38. Go no further: STOP.  Hatl!

39. Hill worker: ANT.  Not a congress critter.

40. Works in Silverstein's "Where the Sidewalk Ends": POEMS.

Ask not for whom the sidewalk ends.  It ends for thee.

41. Provided light: SHONE.  A word rarely seen in the past tense.

45. Gets moving: HIES.  Goes quickly.  A good old Anglo-Saxon word seldom seen in any tense.

46. Luau finger food: POI. Made from the tuber of the taro plant.

47. Lead-in to a texter's afterthought: BTW.  By The Way - now that I have your attention.

50. Words said in disbelief: WHAT THE  .  .  .  The next word in the sequence is open to considerable variation.

53. Canadian metropolis: OTTAWA.  Ottawa is Canada’s capital, in the east of southern Ontario, near the city of Montréal and the U.S. border.

57. MM and MMXX, for two: ANNI.  The years Y2K and 2020, respectively, in Roman numerals.  Let's face it: MMXX has not been a good year; but it is nothing compared to DXXXVI. 

58. Tire (out): WEAR.  This word has a variety of meanings; here it is to diminish by use, as happens when on tires.  Not also that tires wear from use, which is also the same meaning.

59. Beat, with "out": WIPED.  Another word with many possible interpretations.  Here it is WIPING out an opponent.

60. Enzo's eight: OTTO.   The number, in Italian.

61. Where Southwest Airlines is LUV: NYSE  The company's symbol on the New York Stock Exchange.

62. Puts in like piles: SORTS.  Arranges by type or some characteristic.

Down:

1. Words often suggesting unmet goals: SO FAR.  We have a way to go, but we're on our way.

2. Fed. security: T-NOTE.  Treasury NOTE, a marketable U.S. government debt security with a fixed interest rate and a maturity between one and 10 years. 

3. One-eighty: U-TURN.  A rapid turn to go back into the opposite direction.  We seldom see it spelt out completely

4. Port on Italy's "heel": BARI.  Located near the top of the heel, BARI is a port city on the Adriatic Sea, and the capital of southern Italy’s Puglia region.

5. Watch surreptitiously: SPY UPON.  I see what you are doing!

6. Sched. uncertainty: TBA.  Something To Be Announced.

7. Shows one's humanity?: ERRS.  To ERR is human.

8. Zip: NADA.  Nothing.

9. Hitchcock thriller set in Bodega Bay: THE BIRDS.

10. Piemonte city: TORINO.  More commonly known to us as Turin.

11. Confides in: OPENS UP TO.  Shares personal information.

12. Region: AREA. Location.

13. Start to function?: DYS-.  This prefix indicates abnormality or impairment.  

18. Bahrain bigwig: EMIR.  A tittle applied to various Muslim rulers.

19. Charcoal pencil shades: GRAYS.  Available in a set of 50, I suppose.

24. Like "Halloween," and then some: EERIER.  Feast your eyes upon the comparative degree of a word meaning weird and frightening, because you're unlikely to be seeing it again any time soon - or possibly ever.  If I ever see: "More like a Great Lake: Erier," I'm just going to give up.

26. In good shape: FIT.  In good health, especially when due to physical exercise.  One can get fitter.

27. Mobile payments app owned by PayPal: VENMO.  An easy way to electronically transfer funds.

28. Finally arrives (at): ENDS UP.  Reaches some sort of conclusion.

29. Second-lightest noble gas: NEON.  The lightest is helium.  The lightest ignoble gas is hydrogen.

30. Stare slack-jawed: GAPE.  Wide open as, in this case, the jaws.

31. Linguist Chomsky: NOAM. [b 1928] Linguist - sure; but so much more.

32. Luxury hotel name: OMNI.  Omni Hotels & Resorts is an American privately held, international luxury hotel company based in Dallas, Texas. The company operates 60 properties in the United States, Canada, and Mexico,

33. Prejudiced investigation and harassment: WITCH HUNT.  A search for something to prosecute.

37. Father Flanagan's orphanage: BOY'S TOWN.  An organization dedicated to the care, treatment, and education of at-risk children.

38. "__ sells seashells ... ": SHE.  

40. Actress/author Holly Robinson __: PEETE. [b 1964]  She is known for her roles as Judy Hoffs on the Fox TV police drama 21 Jump Street, Vanessa Russell on the ABC sitcom Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, and Dr. Malena Ellis on the NBC/WB sitcom For Your Love.

Care giving

41. Mountain resort aids: SKI TOWS. Various types of ski lifts, each having a moving rope or bars suspended from a moving overhead cable.  This gets you up the hill, so you can slide back down again.

43. South Korean subcompact: KIA RIO.  A subcompact car produced by the South Korean manufacturer Kia Motors since November 1999 and now in its fourth generation. Body styles have included a three and five-door hatchback and four-door sedan, equipped with inline-four gasoline and diesel engines, and front-wheel drive.

44. Solar panel spot: ROOF.  Because that's where the sunlight is.

47. Reason for spin, briefly: BAD PR.  Some problem with Public Relations and the resulting projected image, perhaps caused by foot-in-mouth disease.

48. Limited message: TWEET.  A post on Twitter.  I do that. Does it make me a twit?

49. Hospital sections: WARDS.   Separate rooms or designated areas in a hospital, typically allocated to a particular type of patient.

50. Refuses to: WON'T.  A contraction of "will not," indicating unwillingness or inability to do something.

51. Newsman Lewis?: HUEY.   Hugh Anthony Cregg III (b.1950) known professionally as Huey Lewis, is an American singer, songwriter, and actor.  He was frontman for the pop/rock group Huey Lewis and the News.  And so much more.  He now suffers from Ménière's disease, which is tragic for a musician.

 

 52. LAX postings: ETAS. Estimated Time of -- Arrival or Departure.  Always needs a perp.

54. Rock's Ben Folds Five, surprisingly: TRIO.  Maybe Ben folds something 5 times?  Or maybe two other guys quickly quit?  Anyway, this group was active from 1993 to 2000; and again erratically from 2008 to 2013.

55. NBA great Ming: YAO.  [b1980]  After playing in China, he was the first overall pick by the Houston Rockets in the 2002 NBA draft.  His successful career was cut short by injuries, and he retired in 2011 after several years of foot and ankle problems.

56. Minecraft material: ORE.  Clever clue for this mundane fill.  Minecraft is the best selling video game ever.  Players explore a blocky, procedurally-generated 3D world with infinite terrain, and may discover and extract raw materials, craft tools and items, and build structures or earthworks. 

That wraps up another Wednesday.  Hope you made it through in an orderly fashion.

Cool regards!

JzB

Wednesday, September 9, 2020 Susan Gelfand

Theme: I can't do better than the unifier: HORSEPLAY.  Playing with this HORSE is complicated.  It combines with the theme entries like this: It can follow the first part of the entries and precede the second part, in each case yielding an in the language phrase.

The unifier: 60. Roughhousing, or a hint to both parts of the answers to starred clues: HORSEPLAY.  Boisterous physical play that can easily go too far, especially indoors. 

17 A. *Feature of Santa Claus' beard: WHITE HAIR.  Of course.  This gives us a WHITE HORSE, which can have a variety of meanings in mythology, associated with the sun chariot, warriors and fertility. Figuratively, this can also refer to white capped waves.  Then we have HORSE HAIR, the long, coarse hair from their mains and tails.  This has many uses, including in upholstery, brushes and the bows of musical instruments.

39 A. *Out-of-control guy: WILDMAN.  He is a mythological creature from medieval Europe, or in modern times, as defined in the clue.  A WILD HORSE is a free ranging animal in various parts of the world, probably descended from domestic HORSES rather than originally wild stock. A HORSEMAN is, variously, one who practices equestrianism for recreational, practical or sporting purposes.

11 D. *Bobbysoxer's footwear: SADDLE SHOES.  These are casual, low heeled shoes characterized by a plain toe and saddle-shaped decorative panel placed mid foot.

Do what she says.

A SADDLE HORSE is one that is trained for riding.  A HORSE SHOE is a U-shaped band of iron fitted and nailed to the rim of a horse's hoof to protect it.

25. *Football field director: QUARTERBACK.  This is the guy who throws the ball and hopes that somebody on his team catches it.  A QUARTER HORSE is a horse of a small stocky breed noted for agility and speed over short distances. It is reputed to be the fastest breed of horse over distances of a quarter of a mile.  HORSEBACK, generally with "on" is an indication that something is done while riding a horse.

Hi, Gang, JazzBumpa here to rein this puzzle in.  So, enough horsing around - let's get to it.

Across:

1. "The Grapes of Wrath" family name: JOAD.  It's one tragedy after another for them in this classic novel by John Steinbeck.

5. Pay attention to: MIND.  As a verb, MIND has several different meanings, here it means to regard something as important.

9. Havana houses: CASAS.  Literal, in Spanish

14. Court legend Arthur: ASHE.  Arthur [1943-1993] was an American tennis player who won three grand slam singles titles, and was the first African-American selected to the U.S. Davis Cup team.

15. On the ocean: ASEA. Afloat in a boat.

16. Pixel pattern: IMAGE. A visual representation of something or someone on the screen of your electronic device.

19. Kind of wave: TIDAL.  A Tidal wave is a regularly reoccurring shallow water wave caused by effects of the gravitational interactions between the Sun, Moon, and Earth on the ocean. The term "tidal wave" is often used to refer to tsunamis; however, this reference is incorrect as tsunamis have nothing to do with tides.

20. Colorful birds: ORIOLES.  New World orioles are a group of birds in the genus Icterus of the blackbird family. Males are typically black and vibrant yellow or orange with white markings, females and immature birds are duller.

22. Woodworking tool: ADZE.  An ancient and versatile cutting tool similar to an axe but with the cutting edge perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel. They have been used since the Stone Age.

23. Arouse: PIQUE. Stimulate interest, curiosity or resentment.

26. Enjoys now and then, with "in": DABBLES.  Takes part in an activity in a casual or superficial way.

28. __ hand: HOUR.  A clock has it's hands on it's face to give you the time.  The HOUR hand, unsurprisingly, points to the nearest HOUR of the day.  

29. Skater's surface: ICE.  Hockey playoffs are in full swing.

32. Auditioner's aim: ROLE.  A part in a play or as a character in other activities.

33. Santa __: dry winds: ANAS.  Strong, extremely dry downslope winds that originate inland and affect coastal Southern California and northern Baja California. They originate from cool, dry high-pressure air masses in the Great Basin.

34. Chess pieces: MEN.  Figures or tokens used in a variety of board games.

35. Peaks: CRESTS.  Tops of hills, mountains, waves, stock chart graphs, or anything similarly shaped.

38. Polite address: SIR.  MA'AM doesn't fit.

41. Primitive dwelling: HUT.  A hut is a primitive dwelling, which may be constructed of various local materials. Huts are a type of vernacular architecture because they are built of readily available materials such as wood, snow, ice, stone, grass, palm leaves, branches, hides, fabric, or mud using techniques passed down through the generations.

42. Bothers quite a bit: EATS AT.  Consuming one, emotionally.

44. Tiny ammo: BBS. Round 4.5 mm plated steel projectiles shot from an air pistol.

45. Rocky Road holder: CONE.  An edible container for ice cream, named for its shape.

46. Italian peak: ETNA.  An active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily,

47. Holiday veggie: YAM.  Actually, a sweet potato.  It's complicated.

48. Bridle strap: REIN.  One of a pair of long straps typically connected to the bridle or headpiece and used to control the HORSE.  Or a cross word puzzle.

49. Many map lines: STREETS.  So you can know where you're going.

52. Genre for the Village People: DISCO.

Mandatory

53. Lipstick container: TUBE.  A cylindrically shaped object.

54. Custard-filled pastries: ECLAIRS.  An éclair is an oblong pastry made with choux dough filled with a cream and topped with chocolate icing.

58. Challenging tests: ORALS. Examinations given by the spoken word, often administered to students pursuing advanced degrees

64. Permissible: LICIT.  Within the law.

65. Roused: WOKE.  Awake and/or aware

66. Roof overhang: EAVE.  The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. 

67. Signed: INKED.  Official signings are done in ink, not pencil, for durability.

68. Church recess: APSE.  A large semicircular or polygonal recess in a church, arched or with a domed roof, typically at the eastern end, and usually containing the altar.

69. Sometimes seedy loaves: RYES.  Sandwich bread

Down:

1. Word with bone or breaker: JAW.

2. __Kosh B'gosh: OSH.  Kids' clothes

3. Tuna type: AHI. Big eye tuna in Hawaii, or yellow fin tuna on the mainland.

4. Routes that contain the letters in "routes": DETOURS.  Alternate routes when the main routes are impassable.

5. Half a food fish: MAHI. The mahi-mahi or common dolphinfish is a surface-dwelling ray-finned fish found in off-shore temperate, tropical, and subtropical waters worldwide.  It's past time to forever ban all "half a" clues.

6. Golfer Aoki: ISAO. [b 1942] Isao Aoki is a Japanese professional golfer. He was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2004. 

7. Actor __ Patrick Harris: NEIL. [b 1973] Neil Patrick Harris is an American actor, singer, comedian, writer, producer, and magician. He is known primarily for his comedy roles on television and his dramatic and musical stage roles.  You probably know him as Doogie Howser.

8. Took a risk: DARED.

9. Op. __: footnote abbr.: CIT.  In a second reference to a work, meaning: "in the work already cited."

10. Friendly: AMIABLE.  Seems nice

12. Staring intently: AGAZE.  Peering intently at the dreaded A-word.

13. Monica of tennis: SELES.  [b 1973] A retired professional tennis player, who represented Yugoslavia and the United States. An ethnic Hungarian, she was born and raised in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia. She became a naturalized American citizen in 1994 and also received Hungarian citizenship in June 2007. 

18. Bard's "before": ERE.  

21. Cutting talk: SARCASM.  A sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter gibe or taunt. Sarcasm may employ ambivalence, although sarcasm is not necessarily ironic. 

23. Temporary stage: PHASE.  A distinct period in a series of events or a process of change or development.

24. Ancient Greek region: IONIA.  An area in modern western Turkey directly across the Aegean Sea from the Greek peninsula.

 

It's Greek to me.

27. Partner of raised, in bios: BORN.  Said of a place where someone lived from birth through adolescence.

29. Copy: IMITATE. Ape

30. Cartoon frame: CEL.  A transparent sheet of celluloid or similar film material, which can be drawn on and used in the production of cartoons.  Now, a single frame collectable of a cartoon character.

31. Finish no later than: END BY.  Setting a due date.

36. Long, loose top: TUNIC.  A loose garment, typically sleeveless and reaching to the wearer's knees, as worn in ancient Greece and Rome.  

37. Courtroom staple, for short: STENO. A person whose occupation is to capture the live testimony in proceedings using a stenographic machine and transforming same into an official certified transcript 

39. Ebb: WANE.  Recede or decrease in vigor, power, or extent; become weaker.

40. Corp. VP's degree: MBA.  Master of Business Administration. 

43. Metal marble: STEELIE.

45. Lettuce keeper: CRISPER.

49. Grey Goose rival: STOLI.  Vodkas

50. Shroud city: TURIN.  Read about it here.

51. The "u" sound in "census": SCHWA.  The unstressed central vowel, represented by the symbol ə in the International Phonetic Alphabet.  Note that if the "u" of census were replaced with an "a," "e," "i," or "o," the sound would hardly change

52. "__ Day": 1993 rap hit: DRE.

55. Circuit: LOOP.  One time around a circle or oval.

56. Slow-moving boats: ARKS.

57. "Now it's clear": I SEE.

59. Normal: Abbr.: STD.  Standard.

61. Put down: LAY.  As tools or weapons.

62. Hail, to Hadrian: AVE.  Ave is a Latin word, used by the Romans as a salutation and greeting, meaning "hail". It is the singular imperative form of the verb avēre, which meant "to be well"; thus one could translate it literally as "be well" or "farewell".

63. Cry of success: YES!.  As when your team makes a good play or scores.

That wraps up another Wednesday.  Hope you enjoyed the ride. 

Cool regards!

JzB